Lost
by WeAreYoungg
Summary: Six girls all meet up at the camp and have to go on an adventure to find the lost symbols of Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. They are faced with dangerous battles and find dirty secrets about each other and the gods that make them doubt all of their trust for everyone... even themselves. Can these girls pull it together and retrieve the items or will they be captured by the thief? R
1. Anna Claire

**Anna Claire**

* * *

I sit alone in the middle of the dance studio, relaxing after practice. Most girls were panting as they were leaving, but not me. Dancing is my life. I live and breathe to dance. It's my passion... most times. Other times my mom and dad push me so far that I hate it. They don't seem to care what I want, as long as I have money coming in from sponsors and the competitions I win. I'd just won a contemporary solo today, not a big deal, really. I'd won solos before. In fact, I win more than I lose. The girls around here still treat me like I'm some sort of star, though. I'm thirteen, older than some and younger than others.

They seem to think I was blessed with some sort of gift, considering I can do forty-nine turns, ten more than the second runner up in my dance team. I've been in dance since I was younger. I don't completely have the body for it. I am tall, but I'm no far too flat like most of the girls here. I have a flat stomach, but that's it. My dance teacher, Ms. Shay, says my body is a gift, but I don't believe her. I look out of place with most of the other girls and everyone knows it. But I'm better than most of them. Maybe even all of them.

They've come to learn and except that. After I'd won my first solo, they'd called it luck. They'd called it a coincidence when I'd won my second and fourth. They'd said I was cheating by the time I'd won my fourth and fifth, but by the time I'd won my ninth or tenth, they just excepted the fact that I was gifted and far more talented. I never brag or say I'm better than the other girls, I'm nowhere near that cruel, but it seems to be an unspoken agreement that I am. My name is Anna Claire, but everyone else calls me Anna.

I like the short version better, it suits me. It's plain and simple. But I've always known, from a very long time, that I'm not plain or simple.  
I hear the studio door open and close. The lights are mostly off except for the one pointing at me, so I can't see anything. A little bit of panic feels in my chest.

"Hello?" I call out, as if anyone will answer. "Who's there?"

I hear a hissing sound and shiver. I've always been terrified of snakes, I've never enjoyed them. I hear a little bit of laughter and see a girl with curly jet black hair and baby blue eyes that I recognize all too well.

"Tanner!" I scream, outraged. My best friend laughs but raises her arms in defeat. "Sorry, I know, I know. You hate snakes."

I giggle a little and stand, hugging her. She wraps her arms around me and squeezes me tightly. My wavy blond her mixes in with her jet black hair and we stand there for a moment, hugging. It's a simple embrace, but it's the first time I've seen her in a few days.

"How was your trip?" I ask her, releasing the hug. She makes a face then her eyes widen.

"Oh! That trip! It was great. I had a lot of fun."

I nod, barely understanding her. She smiles, quite shyly, back. I hear the door open and close again and more hissing sounds. I chuckle.

"Did you get a partner to help you?"

"Um... no..." Tanner says, backing away. I back away with her, almost out of the light. A woman with sunglasses and a wrap on her head steps into it.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"Medusa. Prepare to die demigod."

I back out of the darkness and she backs away, too, in the opposite direction. I feel the need to breathe again and be thankful that the scariness is over... only it isn't. I hear the hissing right behind my neck and I jump while screaming. I step back into the light, Tanner by my side, and I see the woman. She is moving toward us again. The woman rest her hand on her sunglasses, ready to take them off. Just as she moves them, I realize Tanner isn't beside me anymore. The power shuts off and I'm engulfed in darkness.

I feel someone grab my wrist and cover my eyes, muffling my scream.

"Shh, Anna! We have to get outside. Be careful, and be quiet." Tanner whispers in my ear.

I nod against her hold and we slowly start walking. I know where the door is, even in the darkness, so I lead us to it with no problem. We escape the studio and begin running. I'm running in my competition outfit and with any shoes. It's pretty hard to keep up. My shirt, well it's more of a sports bra type thing, scratches me as I run. The dark brown, short skirt that matches rubs against my legs. I feel the cold air on my body as I run.

"Don't stop until I tell you that you can." Tanner says.

"Why?" I ask.

I hear glass shatter and I turn back to the studio, finding Medusa running out.

"Never mind." I say, grabbing Tanner's wrist and dragging her down the road. We run until my legs burn and my muscles beg for mercy and cry in agony. I finally stop running, not caring for the danger anymore, and look over to see Tanner doubled over and panting. I stand beside her and look around for the crazy woman but I don't see her.

"Anna..." Tanner says, stopping to take a deep breath of air, "I need to tell you something."

"Then tell me."

"I have to get you to a camp, first. You trust me, don't you?"

"I honestly don't know anymore."

I follow her quickly as she leads us out of town, nonetheless.


	2. Kaden

**Kaden**

* * *

I climbed out of my pool, just finishing my swimming. The warm breezes blow all around me and I shiver, despite the warmth. My chocolate brown hair, which is normally curly, lays flat against my back. I train my foam green eyes on the red mark on my stomach. It's so out of place with the rest of my lightly tanned skin that it's the only thing I can focus on. I hear my gate open and close, looking over to see Mike, one of my closest friends.

He smiles at me, walking over and sitting down beside me, not put his legs in the pool like I am.

"Wassup?" He asks.

"Um... just sitting here, on fire." I say, rolling my eyes sarcastically.

"Well you are pretty hot." He winks. I laugh and lightly push him. He lightly pushes me back so I push him over into the pool and laugh. He surfaces, spitting out water. He climbs out and comes toward me.

"No no no no no no no!" I shriek, laughing. He comes over to me and picks me up. I giggle more as I struggle against him. He jumps into the pool, holding me. Immediately, it's as if I've been drowned and now I can resurface for oxygen, except the water is my oxygen. I laugh, causing little bubbles to move to the surface. Mike lets me go and grabs my wrist. We'd been at the bottom of the seven foot deep pool, so now he kicks upward and I follow his lead.

We surface and splash each other with water, laughing. He swims over to me and I'm not even surprised to see he took off his pants and is swimming in boxers and a white tee. I remember last month when he ran through our school in nothing but boxers and socks. I laugh at him.

"Please tell me I don't have to swim down and get your pants like last time." I say through laughter.

"Oh... sorry." He laughs and I roll my eyes but swim to the bottom of the pool, getting his pants and swimming to the surface. I throw the pants at his face and he goes under the water momentarily. I laugh some more and get out of the pool. He follows and decides not to even try putting on the pants.

"You going home to get changed?" I ask, drying my hair with my towel.

"Yep." He says, hugging me. I reach up and dry his hair, too. His dark brown hair sticks up everywhere. His serpent green eyes looking into mine. I smile.

"Hurry because we have the whole summer ahead of us starting today."

He smiles and runs out through my gate. Just as he closes it, I hear something shatter inside my house. I go in and see a giant. I mean a legit giant. I scream in terror and it turns to face me.

"Mmm. Demigod make tasty snack." It says, coming toward me. I can't help but scream again. Mike comes in through the door and stands in front of me, holding a sword, still in his boxers. He'd ditched the shirt when we got out of the pool. Now he looks like he had a month ago at school, nothing but boxers and socks. It's hard to take this moment seriously now.

That is until the giant tries to kill Mike. He throws something at us and Mike slaps it away with his sword and charges at the monster, stabbing it in the stomach. The giant begins to melt into dust. I cover my mouth, preventing myself from screaming again. Mike puts an arm around my shoulder and pulls me into him. I start crying.

"What was that?!" I ask, through tears.

"Come with me. Let's get you some clothes and get you changed. I have a lot to tell you, but you have to come with me." He tells me, pulling me up the stairs and to my room. I go through my drawers, tossing in clothes, quickly. I'm still in my bikini, so I grab a shirt and throw it over myself. Mike doesn't watch me, he's too busy watching the door. I don't understand what's going on.

I'm scared. I'm shaking and fresh tears start spilling out of my eyes. I've always known that I wasn't normal. Most people who stay underwater as long as I can, drown. I never thought I'd be seeing monsters, though. Mike glances at me quickly, turns away, but glances back. He rushes over to me and grabs my bag, putting an arm around my shoulders. He leads me out of my room, down the hallway, down the stairs, and finally, out of my house.

"I'm going to protect you, I promise. Don't worry about being hurt by something like that." He says, quickly.

I nod.

"Where are we going?" I ask, rubbing my eyes.

"A camp."

"For what?"

"For people like you and me."

"What kind of people are we?"

"Abnormal."

"I already knew that. I've known that for a long time."

He smiles but rushes me away. I get one last look at my house, then I start running and my house disappears.


	3. Terra

**Terra**

* * *

I laugh with my friend, Johnathan. He keeps staring at my arms so I decide to pull my sleeves down more. I don't like when he gets suspicious. All of the joking and laughing quickly stops.

"Why are you wearing a sweater? It's the middle of May." He says, eyes narrowed. I tug my sleeves a little more.

"It's not a sweater. It's a long sleeved shirt. And, I just like long sleeved shirts. That's all." I smile, hoping it looks convincing. I hate long sleeved shirts.

"But you hate long sleeved shirts. Terra, you're not doing that again, are you?"

"No. I stopped last year. Remember, you helped me. And besides, no one's been teasing me or anything. Why would I be cutting again?" I ask. It was true, no one was bullying me anymore. Last year I was always talking about saving the environment and stuff and people made fun of me and bullied me. I was a no body. But I also had other reasons for cutting, and those are the only reasons I have now.

Johnathon doesn't know about those reasons, though.

"Mm. I remember helping you, and I remember you stopping but I also remember how you use to try to hide them, and that's exactly what you're doing right now." He says. I shake my head.

"It's just cold."

"It's eighty degrees."

"Yeah but, it's still cold."

"Terra-"

He reaches and pulls up my sleeve. He's fast so I can't stop him. He sees the line from where I'd cut myself just earlier. Pain fills his deep brown eyes and he shakes his head, his dark brown hair flopping around.

"You lied to me." He says. I can hear the hurt in his voice.

"I didn't want you to worry."

"I am worried! Who's bullying you? I'll kill them."

"Johnathan, it's not-"

My mom comes into the kitchen, smiling.

"Hey, Johnathan." She says. He pulls down my sleeve quickly. My mother didn't see the scars or cuts.

"Hello, Ms. Joann." He smiles. Joann stares at my hand because his hand had trailed to it.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asks, jokingly. For once, she seems nice. She always seems nice around Johnathan.

"No, Ms. Joann." He smiles, sweetly. He always so nice to her. If he knew half the things I do, he wouldn't be nice to her. That's why I don't tell him because if I did, he'd yell at her and then I'd never be allowed to see him again.

"You should get home, it's getting late and I'm sure your parents are worried." She says, walking over to the fridge and grabbing some ground beef and cheese. Cheeseburgers for dinner tonight? She might go easy on me, or maybe something good happened today and I'll get to skip out on tonight's punishment since she's making my favorite food.

"I was just about to leave. Have a good night, Ms. Joann. Bye Terra." He says, looking at me with a look saying _we'll finish this later_. I nod and smile.

"Bye, Johnathan." We both say. He leaves through the glass door but I watch him and I see him hide behind the bush. He wants to know what happens while he's gone.

This is bad. But maybe tonight will be a good night and he'll get rid of his crazy suspicions... but they aren't crazy. She turns on the stove and puts the frying ban on it. I watch her every move, trying to hide my shaking hands. She begins putting the beef in the frying pan. She sprinkles a little bit of cinnamon on the beef.

"I'm allergic to cinnamon." I say, quietly. She takes the frying pan and throws it on the ground. I wince.

"You don't do anything right!" She screams at me. She walks over to me and pushes me out of my chair. I land on the ground with a thud. I look over to the glass door and see Johnathan still outside, watching in horror. "Why can't you be like your brother?! You filthy half-breed! Maybe if you weren't here, your father would have stayed! You ungrateful little bitch!"

I hear the front door shut and my older brother, Kevin, stands there with anger in his eyes.

"Mom, what are you doing?!" He screams. She'd had me pinned up against the wall. I never understood why I was called a 'half-breed' but my brother always chastised my mother when he heard her say it. He's never seen her physically abuse me, though.

"Nothing, Kevin. Go up to your room. Dinner will be ready soon. Cheeseburgers with cinnamon seasoning." She says, slamming me against the wall then letting me go. I fall to the ground and pull my knees to my chest.

"She's allergic to cinnamon. Her throat will swell and she'll die. But I guess you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Kevin asks, glaring at our mother.

"I didn't know she was allergic!"

"I just told you." I whisper. I'm glad she hadn't heard me.

"She's your daughter! You gave birth to her! I'm only her brother but I still knew that! Do you even know when her birthday is? Huh? What's that? No? You don't? Of course you don't! You hate her because of what her dad did. Leave her alone, Joann." Kevin snaps, walking over to me and wrapping me into his arms. Kevin is tall and built, being only sixteen he'd whooped a few of my mother's one night stands. I always feel safer around him.

"I don't hate her! And I do know her birthday."

"When is it?"

"Today?"

"Wrong. It was last month. April the twentieth. You know what? Go get wasted and screw a stranger again, Joann." Kevin says, pulling me into him more. I'd began crying. I hate when they argue over me. Of course she wouldn't hit him, but then everyone's upset. Not just me, but Kevin because she does this to me and mother because she realizes neither of us love her.

Joann leaves and I lean my head onto my brother, crying harder. I hear the door slam and I hear the other door slide open.

"Hey, Johnathan. You didn't see any of that... did you?" Kevin asks.

"Yeah. Is this why you started again? Your mom?"

"Started what?" Kevin asks. I look at both of them. They're both eyeing my suspiciously now.

"Cutting myself. And yeah. She's the reason why."

Kevin slides up my sleeve and his mouth drops.

"Terra..."

"It's fine. It doesn't sting that bad."

He slides my sleeve back down and looks at Johnathan.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" He asks. He's looking at Johnathan's necklace.

"One of what?" Johnathan asks.

"My mom calls them half-breeds but we both know what she really means."

"Yeah, I am one."

"You came here to protect my sister, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Then protect her. I'll go pack a bag of clothes for her and I want you to take her where people like you two go to be safe. Take her there and don't let her come back. Contact me when you can. Keep her safe from everything that might hurt her." Kevin says. Johnathan nods and Kevin leaves, going upstairs. Johnathan pulls me into his arms.

"Where are we going?" I ask, sniffling.

"A camp. You'll be safe there. I'll keep you safe."

I smile a little and rest in his embrace. After a while, Kevin comes down with my bright orange duffer bag and hands it to Johnathan. I stand, with Johnathan, and Kevin kisses my forehead.

"Keep my baby sister safe or I swear on everything I'll make that horrible thing my mother just did seem like a privilege, do you understand, Smith?" Kevin asks, glaring at Johnathan.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to her."

My brother rushes us out of the house and Johnathan grabs my hand, pulling me with him as we run away from my house.


	4. Leslie

**Leslie**

* * *

I lay in my yard, on the grass. I breathe in all of the scents around me, sighing against the wind. I close my eyes and relax against the ground beneath me. Someone sits beside me. I look over to see my best friend, Leo. Leo is Hispanic with curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He moved here a week after my birthday. It was the best gift I'd ever gotten because I had a real, true friend. That's all I ever wanted and I got it. I got Leo Valdez.

He smiles at me with his little mischievous grin that makes most people back away from here, scared about what he might do. Not me, though. It draws me into him. It's so odd that someone so... him could look so different when he smiles. I smile with him.

"Hey, Les." He says, sitting down. When we first met, he called me lesbian, trying to be funny. He was laughing until I punched him in his face. We became best friends after that.

"Hey, Leo. Wassup?" I ask, looking at him, momentarily.

"Nothing, was just walking home until I saw you out here."

"Walking home at midnight?"

"Hey! You're the one laying in the grass at midnight."

I laugh and he lays down beside me.

"Now," He begins, putting his arms behind his head and resting on them, "We're both laying on the grass."

I move sideways and put my head on his abdomen. I feel his breathing goes irregular for a moment, as if his breath caught in his throat. That happens a lot when I do things like this. I close my eyes and regulate my own breathing, losing since of the world little by little.

I'm woken up by Leo jumping up quickly. He'd thrown me off in as a nice of a way as you can throw someone off of you. He was holding me tightly.

"Leo, what's-"

He steps in front of me and I lose my balance, stumbling. I'm still tired so I lean half on his shoulder, half on the upper part of his back.

"Leslie, don't go to sleep. This is important, I can't protect you if I can't move." He says. I back off of him and shake my, waking myself up.

"Protect me?" I ask, yawning. My blonde hair falls in front of my bright blue eyes. I push it out of the way and finally see the reason Leo wanted to protect me. A creature with five heads towered over Leo and me. The creature was a Chimera, something I'd learned about when I was interested in Greek Mythology. I cowered behind Leo.

"Stay back, Les." He said, his hands bursting into flames. I almost screamed. I would have screamed except for the fact that I couldn't breathe.

"Um... no problem." I whispered, backing up. My parents were gone since it was the beginning of summer break and I had no siblings so I had no one to go get for help.

He ran to the Chimera but it seemed focused on me. It spit toward me and Leo screamed.

"Move! Now!"

I ran, quickly. The creature's spit hit a tree and it disintegrated it and the tree fell over.

"Thanks for the warning!" I yelled back, feeling lightheaded. I wanted to help but how? I was a well known, state archer... would that help? Could I shoot and arrow at the beast and kill it?

Guess I'll have to find out. I open the front door and grab my bow and arrows, which were sitting by the door. I come outside again, seeing Leo standing in front of the beast.

"Shoot its head off!" He screams, looking at me. I nod and aim. I shoot one head off, Leo jumps on it and burns the stump. I do it four more times and he burns the stumps. His hands extinguish themselves and he runs over to me.

"What happened?!" I ask.

"I have a lot to explain to you. I know this, but you aren't safe here. Let's get you packed and leave."

"Leave?! Where?!"

"You trust me, don't you?"

"I- yes."

"Then believe in me. I'm going to protect you. I promise."

I sigh but allow him to run into my house with me. I pack my bags and grab my bow and arrows. He leads me out of my house and I shut the door behind me.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see. Come on."

He grabs my hand and drags me behind him.


	5. Blair

**Blair**

* * *

I walk through my house after just waking up. My blonde hair is in a high bun and my green eyes land on the note on the counter. I walk over to it and read it.

_Gone for the first week of summer, your dress is here, just in time, and Sara said her parents would love to take you to the pageant. Good luck honey!  
__-Mom _

I sigh. Of course they're gone. They always leave. I walk to the fridge and pour myself a glass of orange juice and fix some toast. I hear the front door open and close. My best friend, Sara, stands there, happily. We both do pageants, in fact that's how we met. Sara has elfish features but she's gorgeous. She has curly dark brown hair and blue eyes. She has porcelain like skin that is pale. She is fairly tall and very skinny. I'm tall, like her, but I'm not as skinny as she is.

She smiles at me.

"Hey, Sara!" I smile, taking my toast out of the toaster.

"Hey, the dress is here. The pageant is at eight. We have to get to the hotel and then get ready. Let's go."

We take an hour long drive to the hotel where we'll be staying. Sara and I hurry up the stairs, needing a little exercise before the pageant. We laugh while we run. We beat her parents to the hotel room. Her dad has a problem with his knees and her mom is just like her. She's pale with porcelain skin and dark curly hair. Her dad is shorter than her mom, but I think it has to do with his knees. I feel bad for him, he's like my second dad. I always insist on helping him. I grab our bags from him and hold the door open.

He smiles at me and I smile back. I shut the door behind us and Sara and I run and jump on the beds. It's always the first thing we do. Her mother smiles at us and grabs her husband's hand.

"We're gonna go shopping, gonna get some more stuff for you girls. Go ahead and start getting ready. We know how long you two take." She chuckles. We smile and wave good-bye.

"You wanna go first in the shower?" Sara asks, turning on the t.v.

"Yeah." I say. I grab a tee and some shorts then go into the bathroom. I run the shower and step in. I quickly wash and condition my hair then bathe my body. I get out when I'm done and wrap a towel around myself. I blow-dry my hair and it falls into perfect curls. I don't bother to do my make-up, not yet. Sara and I always do it together. I get dressed in the tee and shorts and walk out of the bathroom. Sara goes into the bathroom and I turn off the t.v and plug in my headphones and listen to music.

I wait for her to get out. After about an hour, she comes out dressed in a tee and some shorts. Her curly hair is also blow-dried. She comes and sits down beside me. We take out the make-up and begin.

After about two and a half hours of making our make-up perfect and doing our hair some more, we're ready for our dresses. I put on my peach dress which goes beautifully with my tanned skin. The dress poofs out, like a Cinderella dress, and it has a small 'v' right in the middle of my cleavage, barely showing any. I wear white flats under my dress, so my dress hits the floor, and I put on a diamond necklace and diamond earrings. My hair is slightly bumped up and pinned to the side, flowing over my shoulder.

I look at Sara. Her baby blue dress is puffed out at the bottom, like mine, and it hits the floor. It's top goes straight across, barely showing cleavage, and has ruffles at the top of it. She wears white flats under her dress at well and her curly hair is bumped up and left down. She wears a diamond necklace, much like mine, and ruby earrings. She also has a diamond ring on her finger.

We take a picture together, like we always do. Her mom and dad come in. They smile.

"You both look gorgeous!" Her mom says.

"Beautiful!" Her dad adds.

"We have the little dresses that you'll wear for the talent and question portion, plus we also went to the gift shop of the place and got you tee shirts that you can wear before crowning." Her mom says.

"Can't wait!" Sara and I chime together. We add a few touch ups and before we know it, it's time to go to the stage for the pageant. We leave the room and go downstairs. Her parents check us in and we go backstage and wait in line. I'm number five and Sara is number six. These are our lucky numbers so maybe we'll place.

Sara and I check each other, making sure everything is perfect, and they call number one. The girl that goes out is red headed and wears a grey dress that doesn't go with her hair. She's short and skinny, fairly pretty, really. She should have chosen a white dress or a baby blue one. The white would have made her look less pale and would have made her hair stand out just right.

She comes back and the second contestant is called. She has brunette hair and wears a pale green dress. Her hair is curled neatly except for one strand that's out of place. It's probably be a deducted point. Maybe. She comes back and I see the freckles along her nose. The third girl goes. She's blonde wearing a black dress. It looked bad together because her hair flowed right over it, making it look more yellow instead of blonde. The fourth girls is up. She has brown hair and a blue dress. She's gorgeous. Her outfit is perfect. When she comes back, I see her flaw. Her make-up is uneven. One eye is darker than the other, and the other eye has its make-up going higher than the other.

I sigh, and my fingers shake. I shake my hands out. They call my name.

"Blair Johnson."

I smile and walk out onto the stage. I keep my eyes focused on the judges, ignoring everyone else. They read my form, telling everyone my favorite color, favorite food, hobbies and what I'd like to be when I grow up. I stop and smile, turn and keep my eyes on the judges. My technique is drilled in my mind. Be pretty. Have posture. Smile and look at the judges. Only the judges. No one else matters. Pretty feet. Be pretty. Be pretty. Be pretty. I walk backstage, done with my turn. I hi-5 Sara and she goes out when her name's called.

She comes back after a moment and then the rest of the girls go and we go change into our shorter dresses. I have on a strapless white dress that flows to an inch above my knees. I put on some white wedges and touch up my hair. Sara wears a tightish red dress that stops at her knees and red heels. She touches up her hair as well and we go back on stage.

They call out the girls again, one by one and ask them questions then let them do their talent. My talent will be acting and Sara's will be singing. I hear my name and I walk out on the stage. The judge in the middle glares at me while she begins.

"Why do you want to be a cosmetologist?" She asks.

"Because I like beauty, and make-up and making people feel better about themselves."

"Do you have any experience?"

"I do my own make-up. I do other people's make-up, as well."

"You like acting?"

"Yes. That's my second passion."

"Let me ask you, demigod. Are you ready to die?"

"Wha-?"

Wings spread from her back and she lunges at the stage. I scream. Everyone in the audience is screaming. Sara runs up the stage and to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind stage. The girls are screaming. We're running. We run to the room, her parents are already there. They hand me and Sara bags.

"Change into the flats." Her mom says, pulling out a sword. Her dad pulls out a dagger. I don't question them, I change as does Sara. Sara grabs my hand and we climb down the fire escape with our bags. Sara leads me away from the hotel.


	6. Cameron

**Cameron**

* * *

I've always hated this foster home. Everyone here hates me and I hate them all. Except for Roger. He's my only friend. He has a leg problem so kids make fun of him. I'm a 'nerd' so kids make fun of me. Plus they say a girl shouldn't have a guy's name. I don't like them. They're rude and horrible. Roger plays with my blonde curls. I focus my grey eyes on him.

He has curly brown hair and brown eyes.

"You having fun there, Roger?" I laugh. He smiles.

"Yeah. Your hair amazes me. It's not perfect but it looks awesome."

"You look like you want to eat it." I laugh.

He backs up, laughing. I smile at him. Roger is younger than me, only twelve, while I'm thirteen. He's like my little brother. He eats an apple and talks with his mouth full.

"Y'know, you're gonna go off and do great things. I just know it." He says.

"How?" I ask.

"You're smart. You're pretty-"

"I am not pretty. I'm anything but pretty."

"You're pretty."

We argue over that topic for about five minutes.

"Beauty is irrelevant." I say, shrugging.

"Then you're irrelevant, Cam."

I roll my eyes. I'm not pretty. I'm pale and too skinny. I'm not pretty. Not by a long shot.

"No I'm not." I say. He sighs in exasperation.

A girl, Mandi, comes in. Mandi has red hair and freckles. She's short and skinny.

"God, no wonder your parents didn't want you. You're such a joy kill." She groans.

"You're here, too. But I see why. You were so ugly your parents must have been so embarrassed when they saw you." Roger says, jumping in for me.

"Shut it, crip."

"They can fix my legs. It'll take a whole team of plastic surgeons to fix your face, though."

She groans and walks away. I smile at Roger.

"Thank you." I say.

"No problem. I don't like her."

"Me either."

We walk out of my room and go outside of the home in the back. They have raggedy swing sets, slide, basketball goals and more. It's trashy and unsafe. I hope some of the contraptions break down on Mandi and her friends. Roger and I laugh and play around with a newly aired up basketball. No one bothers us because no one wants to talk to us.

Roger pulls me away from everyone.

"How would you like to leave? I mean, runaway?"

"I-"

"I know where we could go. It's an awesome camp. Come with me? Please?"

"Why me?"

"I don't want to leave you alone. People here are mean to you."

I sigh.

"When do we leave?"

"Tonight.

I'd packed about two hours ago. The moon makes my horrible room almost attractive. Roger knocks on my door, bags ready. I smile and grab my own bags. He puts his finger to his lips, shushing me. I walk slowly and quietly, already having memorized which floorboards creaked and which didn't. Roger follows my lead. We sneak out of the orphanage and run down the street.

Roger has a little problem running, though.

"How far away is it?"

"Not too far, don't worry."

I laugh and I outrun him, listening to his directions. This was my time for a new, safer life.


	7. Camp

**Camp**

* * *

**ANNA**

The camp was something beautiful. I walk in, late at night, with Tanner. Tanner sighs in content, happy we were finally done running. I was pretty happy myself. Tanner reaches up and puts an arm around me. I slip out of her grasp, falling to my knees and panting.

"It's Capture the Flag night, so people are still up. That's good. Hold on, I'll get you help." She says. I nod. A boy is walking to a cabin, completely tuned out from the world. "Noah!"

The boy looks at us. He sees me on the ground and runs over. He has blonde hair and baby blue eyes that I see clearly, even with the darkness. He leans down and lifts me up.

"What happened, Tanner?" He asks.

"Medusa. Running. Lots of running. Dancer down." She says, breathing heavily.

"You're a dancer? That explains the outfit. I was hoping you had a good excuse for it. The Hermes boys and most of my brothers can be pervs sometimes." He says.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"I'll let Chiron explain everything to you. Hey, look. More campers."

I turn and see more teens coming over the hill.

**Terra **

I see two girls and a boy. The girl in the boys arms is blonde and in a provocative outfit. The other girl has dark hair. I notice Johnathan shaking his head at the boy.

"Noah! No flirting with the injured! These are the girls! Two of them were the accused." He says.

The boy holding the blonde haired girl grins.

"Not flirting. She fell to her knees, weak from running. Just helping out."

Johnathan helps me walk down the hill, followed by the other people who came behind us. The boy, Noah, leads us all to a tent. It's empty with a lot of medic beds. He sits the girl on the bed, allowing her to sit up.

"Johnathan, you and the others go get Chiron, and I'll watch the new girls." Noah says. I shake my head.

"No. Johnathan... please don't..."

"Terra, it's alright. He won't hurt you. You remember how your brother wanted you to have protection? I'm not your only protection."

I take a deep breath and nod. I look around the tent which had just had the lights turned on.

"Hi, I'm Anna Claire James. Anna Claire is my full first name but call me Anna." The girl on the hospital bed says. She has wavy ash blonde hair and electric blue eyes. She's tall with a ballet dancers body... except for her chest and bottom. Never mind. She only has a skinny stomach and fairly skinny legs and arms. The boy, Noah, takes an interest in her. He lays her down and puts his hand where her heart is.

"You were running pretty fast, huh?"

"I was scared for my life."

She looks around.

"Who are you girls?"

I don't want to introduce myself, not yet.

A girl to my right speaks. She has curly dark blonde hair and green eyes. She's built like Anna.

"I'm Blair Johnson."

A girl with curly black hair and sea green eyes talks. She's built like the other two.

"I'm Kaden Clark."

A girl with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes speaks next.

"I'm Leslie Grand."

A girl with with pale blonde hair and grey eyes talks, happily. She's fairly skinny.

"I'm Cameron Cooper. But everyone calls me Cam." She says. They all look at me expectantly. Anna shakes her head.

"If you aren't ready to talk, you don't have to. We've all been through something bad tonight." She says, sweetly. Noah smiles at her. I smile, too.

"I'm Terra Wilde." I say, causing everyone to smile.

"Hi, Terra." Anna says. The boy gives Anna a pill and helps her sit up.

"You have sore muscles but that's it." Noah says.

"Thanks." Anna says to him. She almost falls over but Noah catches her.

"Don't sit up so fast, you'll get light headed."

The others come back in and Johnathan wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"You O.K?" He asks.

"Yeah, I think I made a new friend." I say, smiling at Anna. Anna smiles back. Johnathan smiles happily as well.

"I'm glad. Have you told anyone about...?"

I shake my head.

"No. No one. Not yet."

I look at Anna and she nods.

"We can talk later, if you want to tell me." She says. I nod.

A man with a horses behind trots over to us and Anna shakes her head. Noah had moved by now, and the sudden movement made her fall over.

"Anna!" I scream. Blair and I rush over, beaten by Noah who leans down. The others stand behind us.

"You O.K?" Blair asks.

"Yeah, um... does he really have a horses ass?" Anna asks. Blair and I giggle while Noah tries to hide a smile. I look up at the horse man, a centaur if I'm right, and he's smiling while shaking his head.

"Are you O.K, demigod?" He asks.

"What is that?!" Blair screams in frustration. "At my pageant a lady called me that before she tried to kill me."

"Half human, half god." The man says.

"What?" Kaden asks.

"Allow me to explain. One of your parents is a Greek god-"

"Or Roman." Noah adds.

"Yes, but that's rare. They usually stick to Camp Jupiter."

"Still. We have Hazel and Frank."

"Anyways, it's our job to find out which one your parent is. Also, two of you have been accused of stealing from the gods. Anna and Kaden."

Noah helps Anna up and puts an arm around her, protectively. His blush makes him look a little less intimidating. I look at Kaden. The boy who came with her, Mike I think, stands in front of her.

"Kaden didn't do it."

"Neither did Anna! I've been with her since her birthday. She's never even known about the gods." The girl, Tanner, says.

"I'm sorry. They were accused. We have to help them or the gods might take drastic measures." Chiron says.

"You mean... kill them?" Noah asks, in horror, drawing Anna closer to him.

"They're gods. Who knows?"

"No. No. They aren't going to hurt them." Mike says, moving Kaden and himself over to Noah and Anna.

"They could try to get the items back but they have to be claimed first."

"What items?" Noah asks.

"Zeus' master bolt, Hades' helm of invisibility and Poseidon's trident."

"Alright. We need a quest." Johnathan says.

"You two can't go. Only the girls." He says.

Noah and Johnathan exchange a look. They then look to Mike.

"Alright. But Terra isn't going. I promised her brother I'd protect her. She won't go anywhere without me." Johnathan says.

"I'll watch her." Anna says.

"You're just a girl." Johnathan shrugs. His big mouth has always gotten him in trouble. Anna tries to jump across at him but Noah holds her. A lightning bolt appears above Anna's head.

"Whoa. Her own dad accused her." Mike says. Anna shakes her head.

"Who's my dad?"

"Zeus." Noah smiles. "Careful whatcha say, Johnny-boy. She could kick your ass without lifting a finger."

Johnathan blushes.

"Sorry, Anna." He says. Anna laughs.

"It's alright. But, I'm ready for that quest. I want my dad, and anyone else to know that I'm innocent."

"Me too." Kaden agrees.

"As soon as you all get claimed, you can go." Chiron says. Noah walks Anna to the Zeus cabin and the rest of us girls go with Mike to the Hermes cabin. Johnathan leaves me and without Anna, I almost feel alone. Blair puts her sleeping bag beside mine. Maybe I made more than one friend tonight.


	8. Claimings

**Claimings**

* * *

**CAMERON **

I wake up the next morning in my burrowed sleeping bag. I sit up and see the other girls waking as well. Blair looks at Mike who has just woken up.

"She has a brain above her head. What's that mean?" Blair asks.

"Athena." Mike nods. "Congrats. You're the child of the goddess of wisdom and crafts. We'll move you into her cabin later."

I nod.

"I just got claimed?" I ask.

He smiles and nods.

"Cool." I smile.

**KADEN**

I stand up stretching. Everyone looks at me and Mike bows like he'd bowed to Cameron.

"Congrats. You're also the child of one of the gods who accused you."

"I'm related to Anna? Cool."

"No. You don't have a sister. You have a brother, though. His name is Percy Jackson. You're the daughter of Poseidon, god of the sea, mainly."

I look up and catch the trident above my head.

"Cool. I like swimming."

**BLAIR**

I bow, copying Mike like the others. Mike attempts getting off of his knees but sighs and bows again. Everyone is bowing to me. I look up and see a white dove above my head.

"Translation?" I ask.

"You're a daughter of Aphrodite. Congrats. She's the goddess of beauty and love." He says. Suddenly I'm in a hot pink dress that stops above my knees. My hair, which was sightly messy, is perfect again. I'm in hot pink heels.

"Wow." Terra says. "You look pretty."

"Thanks... you're pretty, too. It's a natural kind of beauty."

Terra smiles. She does look pretty. She doesn't need make-up to be pretty but I bet if she did wear it, more boys would be falling over her feet than they already are.

**LESLIE**

I bow, like everyone else and stand up. As soon as do, everyone else kneels. I sigh. I look up and see a silver moon.

"Whoa! Her eyes just changed colors." Blair says. I grab a mirror. My eyes are silver.

"You're the daughter of Artemis... but she's a virgin goddess." Mike says.

"Artemis save a baby, remember? She had to use her blood. Therefor, Leslie is Artemis' child." Noah says, from the door. I look and see him with Anna. A blonde haired boy stands behind them. He has a scar on his lip.

"Hi! I have a brother, everyone." Anna says happily.

"Hey, I'm Jason Grace." The boy says.

Anna smiles at us all. She goes to Terra but everyone bows to Terra, now.

**TERRA**

It's my turn. Everyone is bowing down to me. But who is my parent? I look up and see Reed pipes above my head.

"Who is-?"

"Pan. God of the wild. He's fading. Might not last too much longer. But you can help. You're his daughter... though you aren't suppose to exist." Mike mumbles. Anna and Blair glare at him. He backs up.

"Let's just go get the quest. We're all claimed, now." Kaden says.

"O.K." I say. "Are you gonna meet your brother?"

"Who is he?" Jason asks.

"Percy." Mike says.

"I'll get him." Jason shrugs, leaving. A few minutes later, I hear yelling. "HEY SEAWEED BRAIN, YOU HAVE A SISTER!"

A boy with black hair and sea green eyes with a crooked smile comes in. "Who?" He asks.

We point to Kaden. Percy goes and hugs her. They start talking but Mike grabs Kaden, lightly. Kaden smiles at him.

"Well, we need to hurry and get our quest." I say.

"Agreed. Let's go." Blair smiles.

We leave to go find Chiron.


	9. Quest

**Quest**

* * *

**KADEN**

Finding Chiron wasn't hard. He was in the Big House, a big blue house. It sort of almost explains itself. The girls and I walk with Noah, Percy, Jason and Mike. Johnathan meets up with us and he stays beside Terra. I don't know what's going on with her but I hope she's O.K. Percy and Jason lead us into the Big House. We go in and find Chiron and a short fat man playing some type of card game.

"Hello, Chiron." Blair says, sweetly.

"Hello, girls. I take it you've all been claimed?"

"Yeah, Kaden is my sister." Percy says, happily.

"Blair is a daughter of Aphrodite and Cameron is a daughter of Athena." Mike says.

"What about Terra and Leslie?" Chiron asks.

A boy, Leo, comes in.

"Can I speak to Leslie?" Leo asks.

"Yes." Chiron says.

They leave.

"About Terra and Leslie... well... they aren't suppose to exist." Mike says.

**LESLIE**

I'm dragged away from everyone by Leo. I glare at him.

"You weren't really my friend... were you?" I ask.

"Yes, I was. I still am, Les."

"You just pretended!"

"I wasn't pretending! And if I didn't have to protect you, we never would have met!"

I feel tears leaving my eyes.

"You were my only real friend... and... it was all a lie."

I fall to my knees and put my hands against my eyes while I cry. I feel Leo pull me into a hug.

"It wasn't a lie. I'm still your friend. In fact, I protected you because you are my friend. Yes, I admit befriending you wasn't my choice but I would have chosen to, anyway." He whispers.

I decide to believe him, just this once. I continue my crying in his embrace.

**ANNA**

"O.K, Pan and Artemis have kids, so what. Can we get on with the quest, now?" I ask. Chiron smiles at me.

"You'll need to break into two groups because their are so many demigods. One group will be lead by Anna and the other lead by Kaden. Anna, you need to go after the master bolt and Kaden your group needs to get the trident."

Noah pipes in.

"What about Hades' helm?" He asks.

"Well. O.K. I want You, Mike and Nico di Angelo to go after the helm."

"Why Nico?" Mike asks.

"Because he's a child of Hades."

"He isn't even here." Noah says.

"Well we'll get him here."

"I am here." A new voice says.

I turn to see a boy with black hair, olive skin and black eyes. He wears an old avatar jacket and he looks tired.

"Hey, Nico." Noah says.

"Hey, Noah." the kid replies.

He doesn't say much more. I walk over to him.

"Hi, I'm Anna."

"Hey, I'm Nico di Angelo."

"Nice to meet you, Nico."

"You're that dancer, aren't you? The one who wins almost every competition she enters?"

I blush.

"Hey! Now I know why you looked so familiar!" Jason says.

"Yeah, I'm Anna Clair James." I say.

"I've heard of you. You're suppose to be really good." Blair says.

"I'm alright."

"You're great!" Jason says. "I have a famous sister! Awesome!"

"Enough, we're getting off track." Noah says. He must have saw the look in my eyes. Of course. It always comes down to more people liking me when they realize I'm famous.

"Thank you, Noah. Now, I want the girls to split into teams of three." Chiron says.

Blair and Terra come over to me.

"Alright. Well you leave later and where is Leslie?"

Leslie comes back in and her eyes are red and puffy. I look over at Noah and flash him a small smile, saying thanks. He grins at me. Jason walks over to me.

"I'm sorry if it seemed like I only cared about your fame. That was stupid of me." Jason says. I smile.

"It's O.K. I understand. You were just shocked. It happens." I say. He nods and hugs me.

"Be careful, Anna. I only have one other sister and I never know where she is half the time. I want to always know that you're O.K." Jason says.

I hug him back and relax in his grip. It feels so common to me even though I've never had any other siblings.

"I'll be fine." I say.

He releases me and Chiron looks at all of us.

"Let's teach you how to Iris Message, then we'll teach you some of your powers, and you'll leave in the morning." Chiron says.

"Alright." Noah says. "Let's get to work. We need to teach you girls how to fight with weapons, with powers, teach you about monsters, and teach you how to communicate. Damn. This is gonna be some work."

"Watch your mouth, Nick." Mr. D says. I see Noah look like he's strangling Mr. D.

"It's Noah."

"I don't care. Go help them."

I stifle my laughter and follow the others out of the Big House.


	10. Learning

**Learning**

* * *

**NOAH**

I was laughing my ass off as the girls attempted learning their godly powers. Percy got a wave of water and tried to get Kaden to control it but as soon as he stopped, water crashed down on both of them. Jason was teaching Anna how to fly. She was a natural at controlling the wind, she thinks that might be what helped her in dance. She, however, sucked at controlling lightning. Jason made an 'X' in the sand, hoping Anna would hit it. He ended up getting shocked with the lightning.

I couldn't stop laughing. I was laughing so hard my sides were hurting. Both girls glared at Mike and me. Mike was doubled over, coughing, with tears in his eyes. Blair glared at us.

"Stop laughing, now." She says. I immediately stop. I want to listen to her, I want to do what she says. Mike had stopped as well. Blair smiles.

"Way to go! She has the charmspeak down." Blair's older, and only brother, Reed, says. Reed has sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He looks over at Anna. She's angry that she can't get the lightning control down. He smiles at her. I immediately don't like it.

"Anna, breathe." He says, walking to her and touching her shoulder. I glare at him. Anna calms down. "Try again."

She hits the 'X' with a huge shock of lightning. She smiles in success. I know Reed had used charmspeak to help her but I don't like the fact of him compelling her at all. I walk over and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Way to go, Anna!" I smile. She smiles back.

"Thanks, it was really cool!" She says, hugging me in excitement. I feel heat rise to my cheeks but I hug her back. Reed smiles at us. So he doesn't like Anna? Good.

"You two are cute. You'd make a great couple." He says.

Anna and I jump apart instantly.

"Hey, let's go check on the others..." I say.

"Yeah! They... yeah, let's go." Anna says. Reed and Blair laugh. Jason shakes his head and Kaden and Percy lead us to the others.

We go to the woods and find Cameron studying everything Greek and non-Greek, Terra controlling the wildlife and talking to animals, and Leslie shooting her bow and arrow.

"I have a godly power!" Leslie smiles in excitement.

"What is it?" Kaden asks.

"This." She waits for a moment and her body changes. She looks nine years old. She changes again. About twenty something, now. She changes back.

"Age control, like Artemis." Jason says in amazement. Leo smiles.

"She learned it on her own. But now, it's time to teach them about monsters." He says. "Everyone, take a seat."

We all look around and go find the person we want to sit beside. I sit with Anna, Blair, Jason, Terra and Jonathan.

**ANNA**

I sit down, taking in all of the outfits the people in my group are wearing. Blair is wearing the dress and heels her mother had magically put her in. It's not the best choice for being in the woods but she walks in the heels like they're converses. Terra is in a dark tee shirt, ripped jeans and green converses. Jason wears a white tee, jeans and red tennis shoes. Jonathan wears a blue tee, blue jean cargo shorts and blue Jordans. Noah wears a white tee shirt, blue jean cargo shorts and bright orange converse.

I look at my own outfit. It's what I'd wear on a normal summer basis. I'm dressed in a white tee shirt and black yoga shorts and I had on bright blue converses. I don't know why I study their outfits, maybe to see how different our styles are. I'm dressed to be able to do as much moving around as I need to. Jason, Leo, Percy and Nico go into a circle. Terra sighs, rather loudly.

"So, what goals do you guys have? I mean, what do you want to do when you're older?" Blair asks. "I want to be a cosmetologist."

"I want to go and help protect endangered animals." Terra says. Mike comes over with Kaden after hearing our topic.

"I want to own a farm down south." Johnathan says. We all stifle giggles.

"I want to be a C.E.O of an investing company." Mike says, beaming.

"Why? So you can rob people legally?" Noah jokes. Mike pushes him and Noah pushes Mike back.

"I want to be an Olympic swimmer." Kaden says, dreamily.

"I wanna go to med school and become a doctor." Noah says, sighing. It wouldn't be hard for him.

They all look at me.

"What?" I ask.

"What about you? What are your goals?" Kaden asks.

"That's easy. I want to get back into dancing during the school term and when I'm older, I'm applying for Julliard." I say. Noah lightly pushes me and so does Blair.

"That'd be easy to you, you're one of the best dancers I know of." Terra says.

"Yeah, you'd be a shoe-in, especially if you get back into dancing." Noah agrees.

"But there will always be someone better. They don't go for one of the best, they go for the best. I have to be the best." I say. Noah puts his arm around me lightly. My heart flutters.

"You are the best." He says.

It's quiet. The boys finally come back, Jason giving a minor glare to Noah. Noah moves his arm off of me.

"Study these." Percy says, throwing us books. "Day and night."

"Now for the Iris Messages and Nectar and Ambrosia lessons." Leo says.

Percy makes water come over our heads, making a rainbow. Jason tosses in a golden coin. He says something and an image appears. In the rainbow I see two girls. One has blonde hair and grey eyes and the other has dark, choppy hair. They both smile at us.

"Guys, this is Annabeth and Piper." Jason begins. "Annabeth is Cameron's half-sister and Percy's girlfriend. Piper is Blair's half-sister and my girlfriend."

I see my half-brother blushing a little. He grabs my hand and pulls me up. I see a glare from Piper.

"Piper, this is _my_ half-sister, Anna." Jason says, smiling at both of us. The glare leaves Piper's eyes.

"Oh! O.K, good." She says. I giggle a little.

"Hi, nice to meet you!" I say.

"You, too!" Piper smiles, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment.

We all say good-bye and Jason runs his hand through the rainbow. Leo looks around and his eyes land on me. He smiles a devilish smile.

"Anna, could you help me?" He asks.

"Um..." I start stuttering.

"It's fine." Leo says. He gets the nectar and ambrosia.

"I thought you wanted her to help you with that?" Jason asks.

"She is."

"But I thought you meant help _getting_ it."

"Yeah... no. I meant demonstrate how it works."

"No way, Valdez." Noah says.

"Yeah, sorry dude but I can't let you hurt my sister. Demonstrate on me if you want."

"Wait! What's going on?" I ask.

"I was gonna give you a minor burn, just a small one. And then I was gonna heal it with nectar and ambrosia."

I think for a moment. I've never been burned before, ever. I nod.

"Really?" He asks. I bite my lip, rethinking but I nod again.

"No way, Anna!" Noah whines. Jason sighs but shakes his head.

"She's made her mind, bro. We can't change it." He says.

I hand Leo my left arm because I don't use it. He inspects it and takes hold of it.

"You ready?" He asks. I take a deep breath.

"Hurry before I change my mind."

I regret everything just a second before his hand goes ablaze. I scream loudly. I've suffered through broken ankles and sprained wrists. Hell, I've even had a minor concussion from when I was first learning my areal and I landed on my head, but this hurt so much more. Leo releases my arm almost instantly. I hadn't even noticed my eyes were closed until I open them to look at my burn. The imprint of Leo's hand is there.

Immediately, Jason and Noah are by my side while Leo gets the nectar and ambrosia.

"Are you O.K?" Noah asks, kneeling eye level with me. I'd been sitting on a stump. I nod my head and lean on my half-brother. I don't have to look at Jason to know he's glaring at Leo.

"What happened to a minor burn, Valdez?" Noah asks.

"I'm sorry! It got out of control!"

"Just a second longer and she might have lost an arm." Jason sighs. I shiver at the thought.

Leo makes me eat a little bit of a square, cookie like thing. It taste like milk chocolate and caramel. He says that's the ambrosia. He gives me a drink of a honey colored liquid. It tastes like hot chocolate. He doesn't allow me to drink too much.

"The thing about the food of the gods is that too much can light you ablaze from the inside." Leo says.

I'll never look at hot chocolate the same again.


	11. Leaving

**Leaving**

* * *

**TERRA **

I wake up in the Hermes cabin. Everyone else had left to go to their cabins, even Leslie's mother had a cabin. My dad was fading and they didn't even have a cabin for him. I sigh. Johnathan comes into the cabin after Mike lets him in. He hugs me.

"I'll Iris Message you everyday." He says. I smile. "And tell Anna about that thing. She might be able to relate now since Leo pretty much did to her that same thing."

I giggle a little.

"I'll tell her and Blair. Maybe they can help me get over it. But... one question. Who's your godly parent?" I ask.

"Don't laugh."

"Promise."

"My mother is Demeter. The goddess of agriculture and cereal."

"Demeter. The goddess of agriculture?"

"And cereal. Can't forget the cereal."

I giggle at him. Not because of his parent, but because of him. His humor. It was the only thing that kept me alive when I was dealing with my mother. I squeeze his back tighter and he releases the hug.

**LESLIE**

I sit side by side with Leo. I'm already ready for the quest but not everyone else is. He sits silently as do I.

"Leo.."

"Yeah?"

"Were you being honest... when you said that our friendship wasn't a lie?"

"Yeah, our friendship was real."

I smile.

"So, we're still best friends? No matter what?"

"No matter what."

I smile and lean on his shoulder.

"Who's your godly parent? I never asked and I don't know too much about Greek Mythology."

"Hephaestus, god of the forges."

"So that's why you're like a walking bonfire?" I ask.

He chuckles and I feel his body move with his laughter.

**BLAIR**

It's the first time in what seems like forever that I get to see Sara. I hug her, allowing the smell of her dark, curly brown hair to engulf me. It's hard to believe that we were around each other for so long but I could never guess that she wasn't normal.

Then again, I couldn't realize that I wasn't normal, either.

Sara releases the hug and I start crying. She has tears coming from her eyes as well. For two years, almost, I've never left Sara's side for more than a day. Now, I had to be without my best friend for God knows how long. I wipe my eyes quickly. She sniffles.

"You be careful out there, understand?" Sara asks.

"I promise."

"Swear it. Swear it on the river Styx that you'll be careful."

Sara had always said this before coming here, but I never understood it. Not until now.

"I, Blair Audrey Johnson, swear it upon the river Styx that I'll be careful on my quest." I say.

Sara smiles.

"You know," Sara says, looking at her nails. "I'm not a demigod. I'm a water nymph. It was hard as Hades to be away from water for so long but thank the gods we had a clear stream behind our house."

I giggle a little and hug her.

**CAMERON**

Roger, my metaphorically speaking little brother, sits beside me. He's crying.

"Promise to come back soon, Cam." He begs.

"I will, little Satyr." I laugh. I'd already found out he was a Satyr when I went to the Athena cabin and met Grover Underwood, anther Satyr.

"I'm serious."

"I know this, Cloves."

"Hey, you say my last name like it's bad."

"It's not bad, Roger. I just like it."

He chuckles.

"How dangerous can quests be?" I ask.

"Let's just hope this one won't be dangerous at all. You need to promise to come back, safe and healthy. And in one piece."

"I pinkie swear."

I latch my pinkie on to his and squeeze it.

**KADEN**

It's hard to see Mike as the serious heroic guy. Every time I look at him I see that laughing boy running around the school in his underwear and socks. But him killing that giant and saving me in that same outfit... well, it'd proven to me that just because you don't look heroic doesn't mean you aren't.

Mike is one of the bravest people I know.

"So... your dad is Hermes?" I ask. "God of thieves and travelers? What kind of awesome powers do you have?"

"Well, besides my stunning good looks, humor and total charm, I can pick-pocket like a pro and I'm a fast runner."

I giggle.

"Your fastness really saved me."

"Yeah. I'm just glad I heard you."

"Me, too."

Without even realizing it, we'd been moving closer. Our faces were so close, we were sharing breaths. I don't move away, though, and neither does he. We just stare into each other's eyes. His serpent green orbs pull me into him. They're beautiful, light and full of playfulness.

He pulls back quickly, face reddened. I feel the heat rising to my own cheeks.

"So... that Super Bowl..."

"The Super Bowl was almost four months ago."

"Shut up." He laughs, pushing me lightly. I giggle and push him back. He falls off of the wooding railing of the Big House.

"Ow."

I laugh whole-heartily. I laugh so hard that I fall off of the railing as well but instead of landing on the ground, I land on his stomach. We laugh more but his laughs sound like painful croaks.

**ANNA**

Tanner had just left. Finding out she was a wood nymph was a pretty hard toll on me. I decide to shake it off. I hear Jason moving. I guess mine and Tanner's argument had woken him up. I sniffle a little and wipe my eyes.

_"Then I guess we aren't friends anymore, Anna!" Tanner had screamed. _

_"Good! Why should I be friends with a liar?!" I'd screamed back. _

_"Don't know. But let's hope those years of dancing can save you in the quest." _

_"Tanner, get out of my cabin." _

She'd slammed the door and woken up my brother. As the door slammed, my tears flowed. A tear falls and hits my bright pink yoga shorts, turning a small spot damp and darker. Jason walks over to me.

"Anna, are you crying?" He asks.

"No." I lie. I don't do like those girls on t.v do. I don't wipe my eyes and sniffle more. I actually try to look convincing. I'm not.

Jason pulls my into his lap like an older brother would do to his five year old sister who'd gotten a scraped knee. I hug him as I cry harder.

"What happened?" He asks.

"Tanner and I had an argument and we're not friends anymore." I sob.

"It's alright, Anna. You two will work it out. I know it." He says. I cry into his shoulder and he rubs my hair which is already messy. "Cheer up! I've only known you two days! I don't want you crying, Anna. You're a strong girl. Everything will be O.K."

I nod and sniffle. I rub my eyes and stand up. I throw put my hair up, making it into a bow using my pony-tail and a bobby pin. I check my smile in the mirror. Jason smiles behind me.

"Do you feel better?" He asks. I nod.

"Yeah. Thanks for... that."

"Comforting you? No problem. All siblings do it."

"I'm an only child. Or, I was."

"Oh. Well, anytime you need anything, I'm here. If you ever want revenge on Leo, I'm here. I'm the older brother and his best friend, I don't have a time limit to watch out for."

I giggle and hug him.

"You're a great brother."

"You're a great sister. I can tell that I'll need you just as much as you need me. If not more."

I smile and break the hug. I grab my bag and I'm out the door.

**TERRA**

We all meet up at the hill. Blair and I are in our group, Kaden, Leslie and Cameron are in theirs and Noah, Mike, and Nico are in theirs. Anna comes running up the hill. When she reaches us, I see that her eyes are red. It looks at though she'd been rubbing them a lot. No one asks what's wrong with her, no one but Noah.

"Are you O.K?" Noah asks.

"Yeah, Jason helped. Everything's fine, now." She smiles.

She hugs him. We all hug each other.

"Be safe." Kaden says to Mike.

"I will. You be safe. And Iris Message me."

"I will."

"Iris Message me?" Noah asks Anna. She smiles.

"I'll think about it."

"So I just get dissed like that? I'm about to risk my life and I get dissed?"

"I'm going out and risking my life too."

We all laugh. It's a sad, creepy joke but it's funny nonetheless. We all say good-bye one last time and get in separate vans. I watch as I leave my new home.


	12. Hades' Quest

**Hades' Quest**

* * *

**NICO**

We ride in the van with Argus. He has eyes all over his body. It's sort of creepy. I pull out the map Chiron gave me. We were going to a museum because Chiron thinks the thief would put my dad's helm somewhere like that. Plus, the map was delivered to Chiron. All it has on it is the museum. Mike snatches the map from my hands quickly.

"Hey!" I whine.

"Hold on, I wanna see it." Mike says. I was in the middle so Noah leans over me, reading it. I get a face full of his sandy blonde hair. I cough. He doesn't care. I bet if Anna were over there coughing, he'd slam me down in the floor-bored to get to her.

I don't understand hormones. Noah takes the map away from Mike and turns it upside down.

"Noah-"

"Shush. I got this." He says, a determined look on his face.

I sigh. He sighs and hands it back.

"No clues, nothing. Just a faggot map drawn by a felon that leads to a museum. Fun scavenger hunt, huh boys?" Mike says.

"It's definitively different." I sigh.

It's quiet now. I shake out my dark black hair and slam my back against the seat. I feel so small compared to Mike and Noah. They're both taller than me, both almost six foot at only fourteen years old. They're also a little more muscular. I have muscles but they have bigger ones. I feel like they're my body guards, but that's not so bad. All great leaders had to have body guards... right?

Who am I kidding.

Argus takes a right and we arrive at a museum that looks older than any other museum I've seen. I don't bother looking at the name of it. I'm just ready to get in and get out. We have our backpacks, so now Argus leaves. I shoulder my black backpack with one strap and I take a deep breath. We need a plan, a full proof plan.

"Alright, I'll take the lead, I need you both on the side of me. Watch out for everything." I say. They nod. They joke around a lot but they're serious in times like this. That's why I knew I could trust them.

We walk into the museum. All of the lights are off. I take a deep breath and tip-toe, then I trip. There's a loud thud. There's a sound like growling.

"Shit, Nico." Mike says. I hear the sound of unsheathing swords.

"I don't like the sound of that." Noah says.

"Oh, yeah, well at least you two are still standing." I growl.

"Oh, get up." Mike says. I try but the tight rope is now wrapped around my feet. I'm trapped and the growling is getting closer. _Way to go, Nico, so much for your full proof plan. _

**MIKE**

"Uh... guys... I can't get up." Nico says from the floor.

"Damn it. Noah, help him?"

"Why do I have to-"

"Noah!" Nico and I yell in unison.

"Damn it." Noah sighs. I hear him mumbling. "Leave it to Nico to trip in the dark. I mean jeez, he could'a super manned that hoe and flew. Freak'n trip wires and shit."

"Noah!" Nico and I yell again.

"Alright! I'm shutting up and helping the goth kid- WHOA!"

The sound of a line being pulled fills my ears. The lights flash on and for a moment I'm blinded. After a moment or two, my eyes adjust. I see Nico on the floor, face and knees, and Noah upside down in the air. A rope attached around his foot. His hair hangs down and his shirt is over his face.

"Someone cut on the lights!" He screams.

"The lights are on, moron." Nico mumbles.

"Oh. Then why the hell-"

I sigh and do the gayest thing ever. I yanked off my best friend's shirt. He grins.

"Oh! I see now!" He says.

"Gods, Noah." Nico mumbles. I drop Noah's shirt and look around. I see two hell-hounds. I already have my sword drawn so I waste no time attacking them. The red in their eyes are the last things I see.

I skip over trip wires and dodge things that look suspiciously like bear traps. So apparently three demigods are wild grizzly bears now. I see a white piece of paper, folded, so I go and grab it. I pick it up and read it.

_'Go to the Subway on 5th street.' _

I sigh. I go and cut the wire holding Nico. He rubs his ankles. The wire was tight so it probably cut into him. I look up at Noah. He flashes a smile only a child of Apollo could have. A cocky smile that makes you think they're nice. I shake my head. I slice down his rope and he falls on his shirt, on his head. He's still grinning.

"Idiot. Now, put on a shirt." I say, sighing.

He stands and throws on his shirt.

"Now, we have to go to the Subway on 5th street." I say.

"Wait. The train station or the food place?" Noah asks.

Nico and I look at each other. I look at Noah.

"Shit." We all groan.

I look at my sword.

"Hey... um... did we ever give the girls their weapons?" I ask.

Another exchange of looks. History repeats itself quickly for us.

"Shit."

* * *

Thoughts and past events are italicized. If anything else is italicized or changed, then I'll let you know.


	13. Poseidon's Quest

**Poseidon's Quest**

* * *

**KADEN**

We were in a van with a man who looked normal. Maybe he was a demigod or something. Maybe he was just weird. I feel pretty weird. He doesn't talk to us, he doesn't even look at us. If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't even think he was breathing. But he is. He has to be breathing... right? I hope he's breathing. Am I breathing? Oh God, I'm not breathing.

I take in a shallow breath of air. Cameron studies me. Maybe it's like a trait of the children of Athena- to study everything. Leslie sits back, bored.

"What's on the map?" She asks, probably dying for a conversation. I know I'm dying for one. I look at the map. I see a bunch of squiggly lines, indicating where to go. There are three lines, red, blue and green, but they all lead to the same place. They lead to an aquarium. These are just different routes. The green one is the shorter one so we take it.

"This is going to be interesting." Cameron says. She's really proper. I'm surprised she even uses contractions, but maybe she'd stop doing that soon, as well.

"Yeah, I guess." Leslie says. She obviously doesn't like talking that much. I don't either. I like the quiet. For the most part, that is.

The guy pulls up to the raggedy looking aquarium called 'SeaTheWorld' all in one word. _Real creative guys_, I think whilst rolling my eyes. The guy stops us from getting out. He pulls out three daggers faster than lightning. We scream. He hands one to each of us.

"Keep up with these, I know they forgot to give you guys weapons. These are the only things I can give you. Good luck, kids."

We get out, holding the daggers and our backpacks. I take a deep breath and we begin walking to the door. The guy does a spin out in the driveway of the aquarium and he's gone.

_It's now or never Kaden, Don't die. This is it._ We enter the aquarium.

**CAMERON **

The aquarium may have been old but it was gorgeous. The floors were black marbled tiled with grey and white specks. The rood was the whitest shade of white I'd seen in an old place like this. The aquariums, which were empty, were kept tidy and huge. The bullet proof glasses shining. There were three different directions, one to the right, one to the left, and one going straight on.

We'd made a silent agreement. Kaden was in the middle so she went straight one. I was on the right side of her so I went on the hall to the right. That left the left hall to Leslie. Leslie, being the only one with an actual weapon, gave me her dagger since I didn't have a godly power. I said thanks and we left each other. I walked down the dimly lit hall.

They had stone like columns connecting the floor and the roof. They also had more tanks. The hall curved a little to the left, like an arch. I gripped my daggers tightly. I hated being alone. I dragged my feet along the marbled floor. I stop. The hall continues but it's pitch black. I take a deep breath and trudge in. I feel around with my hands. I touch something, no _someone,_ and I scream.

"Shush!" Kaden says. The lights come one. We're all here. It was like a semi-circle. There's a note on the tank.

I take it and read it.

_'Go to Central Park.'_

I show the not to the other two.

"To Central Park." Kaden sighs.


	14. Zeus' Quest

**Zeus' Quest**

* * *

**ANNA**

We were riding in the van with a guy I'd never seen before. I was looking at the map I'd been given. The map leads to an abandoned clothing factory. There are three different lines, one yellow, one blue and one orange. We follow the orange route because it's not the longest, nor the shortest. We aren't ready for anything but we're ready to get over with everything. Terra sits to my right, looking out of the window. Blair snores lightly to my left. I put the map in my back pocket.

The driver, Elvis, takes a left. He then turns right. He keeps going straight. He turns left. He stops. Elvis' brown eyes look back at us.

"Thanks." I say, lightly waking Blair up. She grabs our things and we all get out. She tosses Terra and I our backpacks. Terra's goes straight to her but I have to control the air currents to make mine not go into the road.

"Sorry!" Blair squeaks. I smile. She smiles back. It's the first time I've ever truly payed attention to her. She has dark short, thick eyelashes and very light freckles. She has a small nose, like me, that is easy to scrunch up. She has dimpled cheeks and perfect teeth.

I turn to Terra. She has a normal sized nose, not too big nor too small. Her eyelashes are like mine, dark, long and thick. She has straight teeth and as of now she has bags under her eyes. I'm sure we all do.

I turn to the door of the abandoned factory. I count to ten and walk to it. I count to ten again before I finally open it. Terra and Blair shiver simultaneously. I take the lead. I walk in and I hear the door slam shut behind me. I'm alone. The lights are out and it's cold. I hear Terra and Blair pounding on the door. Their pounding is almost as bad as my hearts right now. I'm petrified.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" I call out. I'm answered with silence. I take a small step and feel the trip wire. I use whatever current had been in here to float. I barely miss it. It's hard to keep myself up because of how little wind is here but then again, I'd controlled air in a tiny building before I even knew I could do it. I was slowly getting stronger.

The more I practiced, the easier it would be to control air without needing air.

The thought brings me joy for the first time today. I decide floating, though hard, is my best option. I sift through the tiny currents, bouncing place to place. The lights turn on. I hear laughter. It isn't even the kind of sweet laughter I'd want to hear. It's the kind of laughter that makes you think someone's a witch.

**BLAIR**

"Anna! Anna are you O.K?!" I'd been screaming the same thing over and over. We were met with silence like all of the other times. I kick the door.

"Oh God, what if she dies in there?" Terra asks, a whimper escaping her lips.

"She isn't going to die. Just... breathe. Calm down, Terra." I admit it. I did add some charmspeak to my words but she listened so it's fine. I pounded on the door again. "Anna open the door!"

"She can't, probably." Terra says.

"For God's sake, Anna! Open the damned door!"

"But what if she's being hurt or tortured?" Terra asks, shrinking in her own shadow.

"TERRA!" I shout.

She finally stops hyperventilating long enough to think.

"Maybe I could try something..." She says, trailing off. A vine grows from the ground and squeezes itself through the crack in the door. I see Terra straining.

After a moment or so, the door swings open. I see that both of the doors had been covered all over in vines. I see Anna standing alone against a Harpy. I look and see a pole that seems to have been melted down because of the sharp sides. I take it and throw it at the Harpy. It phases her. I run and grab the piece of paper off of a conveyor belt and Anna catches on. A large air current sends the harpy into a wall, knocked out.

"She won't be down for long, let's go." Anna says, grabbing our wrists and dragging us out. We run out of the abandoned faction and I hear the door slamming closed behind us. We stop running just for a minute.

I open the paper and read aloud what's written on it.

'Go to the mall. At the main entrance, take a right. Go down two stores on the left, take that hall. Go to the fourth store on the right.'

I sigh. I know where the mall it. We can see it from here, but it's such a long walk that the thought of it makes my feet hurt.


	15. It's Time

**It's Time**

* * *

**NOAH**

We'd been walking for so long my feet felt like Jello. We stopped for the night in the woods behind some run down kitty park. We'd go to Subway in the morning. We'd had a long walk from the museum, hours worth of walking. We set up a tent which Nico had bought once we passed a camping store. We build a small fire and sit by it.

"So..." Nico says. It's quiet.

"So." I say. "Soooooo"

"Noah, shut up." Mike says.

"What?" I ask in mock defense.

"Why are you not like this around Anna?" He asks.

I feel heat rise to my cheeks. I always try to be... different around her. I don't know why. Actually, I do.

"I want to be charming around her. I want to impress her. I don't want to be stupid. I don't want to be me." I say, sighing. I see sympathy in both of their eyes.

"You aren't stupid, Noah." Nico says, patting my shoulder.

"Yeah, bro, you're pretty smart! I mean, for a son of Apollo and all." Mike smirks. I laugh and punch him in his shoulder. "O.K, O.k!"

"Never mind, you _are_ an idiot. Both of you. Idiots. Idiots everywhere." Nico sighs.

**KADEN**

I hate walking. I've never enjoyed it. The guy or girl who stole the items and framed us are horrible. Now they just got worse. They made this stupid Scavenger Hunt nearly impossible. I sit down on a picnic table, sighing.

"What are we gonna do?" Leslie asks, playing with her bow string.

"I don't know." I sigh.

"We need a place to stay." Cameron says.

"Good thinking." Leslie agrees. I look up and nod. I stand and shoulder my backpack.

"We'll walk to the nearest motel." I say, popping my back.

It's a long, painful and agonizing walk. I hate every moment of it. My feet are sore and I feel like my legs are going to give out. Finally, we make it to a motel and I go to the person sitting behind the counter. She's a trashy looking lady. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. Her face is sunken in as if she's on drugs. Who knows, she might be. I look at her quizzically.

"We need a room please." I say. She nods, her eyes beginning to close. She hands us the keys.

"Don't we have to pay?" Cameron asks.

The lady just stares at us. She doesn't seem to care so I just take the keys and go off to the room. It's better getting a free room with permission than having to buy one you could have for free.

"Thanks, lady." I say, walking to the room.

**ANNA**

Walking to the hotel was horrible. We'd decided that we'd start our search tomorrow but I was just ready for it to be over. It had started raining by the time we'd started walking. Jason had told me that a child of Zeus could prevent themselves from getting wet in the rain. I don't know how to do that, yet. I was the idiot walking in the rain with hot pink yoga shirts and my black shirt is even blacker than before. Blair shivers in her jeans and tee shirt. Terra walks on the other side of me.

I sneeze.

"Oh God. Anna, are you getting sick?" Blair asks. I sniffle but shake my head.

"No. I've never been sick. I can't be sick." I say.

"Are you sure?" She asks.

"You sound sick." Terra adds.

"I'm O.K. I'm fine." I say. I sneeze again.

We reach the hotel and go in. The lady stares at us in horror.

"Do you need towels or anything?" She asks.

"We just need a room." I say.

We pay for a room and she gives us the little card-key. We walk up to the room with me sneezing the whole way there.

The next morning I wake up, coughing. I try to stand but I have a hard time getting up. I cough some more and fall down with a thud. Blair comes rushing over to me and lifts my head into her lap.

"I'm fine." I sigh.

"You can't stand." She argues. "Get Noah in an Iris Message."

"No! I'm fine!" I yell, feeling heat rise to my cheeks.

"He'll know what's wrong with you!" She says.

Terra gets a plastic jumbo bucket. She sprays water from the faucet into it, the light hitting it just right making a rainbow. Blair, still resting with my head on her lap, tosses in a coin. Noah's image, his hair messy, appears. I hear him snoring lightly.

"NOAH!" Blair screams. He jolts awake and looks at us. He smiles.

"Hey! Wait... why is she..."

"She fell." Blair says. "She can barely stand and-"

I sneeze.

"And she's sneezing a lot. She was also coughing in her sleep last night."

"I was?" I ask.

"She was?" He repeats.

"She was." Blair and Terra confirm.

I cough again, my cough turning into a choke. Blair sits me up and pats my back. I stop choking. I feel nausea in my stomach.

"I think I might puke." I say, quietly.

"Don't." Terra says, quickly.

"Have you been in the rain?" Noah asks.

"Yesterday." Blair says.

"She might have pneumonia. That's not good." Noah says, concerned.

"I'll be fine." I say.

"Just take it easy, oh and make sure to pray to the gods for weapons. We know we forgot to give you weapons and we're sorry." He says.

"It's fine. But we should go. We'll be sure to pray to them." Terra says.

Noah runs his hand through the image and he's gone. They all look to me.

**KADEN**

We woke up the next morning and got ready to go to our starting point,Central Park. It was a hot day today plus it'd rained last night so there shouldn't be too many people at the park. I went and showered. I got dressed in jean shorts, a grey tee and black converse. Leslie was dressed in a bright blue tee and jeans with bright blue converse. Cameron had on a grey tee with a yellow smiley face and jeans with bright yellow converse.

We leave the motel and start walking to the park.

**NICO**

After Noah had gotten done Iris Messaging Terra, Blair and Anna, we all got dressed. I was dressed in a black tee and some jeans with black converse. Mike was in a green tee, jean cargo shorts and green Jordan's. Noah was in a white tee, beige cargo shorts and red Jordan's. We pack up our camp and start walking toward the subway. We look in the underground subway, finding nothing. Noah sighs.

"Told you guys it was the restaurant." He says.

I look at Mike. He nods at me and I nod back.

"Alright, let's go."

**ANNA**

I got dressed, which wasn't easy. I was in bright blue yoga shorts and a white tee shirt and I slipped on some white flats. Terra was in a dark red tee and holy jeans with red converse. Blair had on a lime green tee shirt, black skinny jeans and dark green TOMS. I was ready to go but like Noah said, we had no weapons. We had to pray to the gods. I'd figure it'd be best to pray to our respective parents and then to Hephaestus, being that he's the god of forges. We all go away from each other. Blair goes into the bathroom, Terra into the living room and I stay in the bed room, being that I can barely move.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Lord Hephaestus, I'm Anna Claire and I am one of the accused. I didn't steal anything, I hope you know that. I don't want to be accused of it. I need a weapon. I need one so I won't die trying to get back a weapon I didn't steal in the first place. I just need something to protect myself and fight with... please."

I take another deep breath before I start my last prayer.

"Dad.. Or lord Zeus" I whisper, weakly. "I know you may hate, I know you think I stole your weapon... I didn't. I'm sorry for it, though. I'm going to get you back your weapon... but I need my own. I don't know what I'm good at, but I'm sure you do. Please, just please. Believe me. I've grown up with my mom and 'dad' always using me for money. They treated me like a winning lottery ticket, special but only because with out, they'd be nothing. All my life, I've wanted someone who'd love me for me. You're my last chance and I don't want to lose you, Lord Zeus. All I'm asking is that you trust in me enough to believe me. I love you, Lord Zeus."

I'd been crying through my prayer. I take a deep and shaky breath and rub my eyes. When I open them again, I see a man with pale blonde hair and electric blue eyes, much like mine. I stare in awe for a moment. He is tall and buffed, but not too buffed. He has an energy to him, a strong one.

"Anna, I heard your prayer." He says. I dry my eyes quickly.

"Are you Lord Hephaestus?" I ask.

"You could call me your father." He says.

"Lord Zeus?" I ask, shakily. I have the urge to back away.

"Father."

"I-"

"I believe you didn't steal the weapons, but my brothers aren't so convinced. Hephaestus is working on the weapon, fast. You should have it soon. Be careful, my child."

"I-"

"Shield your eyes."

"But, I-"

"Anna Claire, shield your eyes!"

I close my eyes and put my hand in front of them. Even with my eyes closed, I see the change of lighting. It's quiet. I open my eyes and my father is gone.

**BLAIR **

I sit down in the bathroom floor and take a deep breath.

"Hey, Lord Hephaestus. I'm Blair and I'm on a quest. I have no weapon, I need one. Please. It's all I ask. I don't care what it is, I just need one soon. I know you're the god of forges. You could do this easily. I know you could. I just need something for protection. I need one. Please."

I pause for a moment.

"Mom, I know you love me. I don't hate you for abandoning me like most people would. I know you had to. I know you know me better than anyone. Help Hephaestus with my weapon, please. Oh and mom... I love you. I love you a lot. I hope to meet you soon."

I open my eyes that I don't even remember closing. A beautiful woman with curly blonde hair stands in front of me. She has the bluest of blue eyes I've ever seen. Every second, she's getting more and more beautiful.

"Hello, Blair." She says. Her voice is angelic.

"Hello." I say, shyly.

"I'm the goddess Aphrodite." She speaks. She kneels down and touches my face.

"You're my mother?" I ask, quietly.

"Yes, my dear." She continues touching my face. I choke back a sob and hug her. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me back while I cry in her shoulder.

"I can't believe you're really here." I whisper.

"Well I am, darling. I wanted to meet you. I can't stay, though." She says.

"What? You're leaving?" I whimper.

"We'll meet again, soon. I promise."

"No.. you can't.."

She releases me and stands.

"I must, darling."

"No! Mom!"

I close my eyes, fighting back tears. There's a change in the lighting. I open them and she's gone.

**TERRA **

I can't think for a moment. I don't know what to do. Who do I pray to first? My head hurts. I choose to pray to Hephaestus first.

"I've never prayed before, Mr. Hephaestus... or Lord Hephaestus.. whatever you like. I didn't really come from a religious home. I hope you hear me, though. I need a weapon. I don't care what it is, just please give me one. Dad, Pan, I know you're fading. I know you're fading really fast. I'm going to save you, I promise. I really do, but I have to complete this quest first. I need to save the weapons before I can save you. I need my own weapon, though. I hope you can do something to help me with that." I say.

I look around while taking a shaky breath.

"My daughter," the voice is not in my head. It is around me.

"Hello?"

"This is your father. I am very weak... your prayer has given me some power. I know you will be the one to save me. I know you will rise through your quest and save me."

The raspy voice is quiet now.

"I love you, father."

"I love you too, Terra. But don't close your self from everyone else. I know what you've been through. I am not the only one who loves you, my girl."

"I'll save you. I promise."

There is no response.


	16. The Mall

**The Mall**

* * *

**ANNA**

Our weapons had appeared soon after in my room. I don't know why they were in my room, maybe because I could barely move. The weapons were in a wrapped up box with our names on them, like a Christmas present. The boxes are way to small to be weapons, really, but the gods work in mysterious ways. I grab my box, which is in the middle. Blair's is to the right and Terra to the left. We all look at each other.

"You first, Anna." Terra says. I unwrap my box and open it. Inside, I see a bright yellow lightning bolt clamped to a black roped chain with ends you twist to clasp it. Blair goes next. When she unwraps and opens her box, we see a silver chained necklace with a single diamond hanging from it. The diamond isn't large, too large at least, but it is noticeable. It's also very shiny. Terra begins unwrapping her gift. She opens the box and we see a silver spiral choker with an emerald in the very middle of the spirals.

We all put our necklaces on. We read the papers in the box, they tell us to pull the jewels when we want our weapons. They tell me mine is a sword, Blair's are two short swords and Terra's is a whip.

"Sup!" We hear a male voice behind us. We turn around and I see a man with super blonde hair and sparkling, clear blue eyes. He's tall and tanned, pretty toned. He smiles, his teeth so sparkly and shiny I'm almost blinded. He walks over to me and stops in front of me.

"I'm Apollo, I'm going to heal you. It won't last too long but it should last for a few days." He says, I nod.

"How did you know about it?" Blair asks.

"My son, Noah, contacted me." He smiles at me. I feel heat rising to my cheeks. "You're a lucky girl."

His hands glow bright yellow and soon I don't feel weak anymore. I stand up, stretching.

"Thank you, Lord Apollo." I say. He nods and walks out of the room. I see a flash of lighting and then I'm positive he's gone. I waste no time and I grab my bag and toss Terra and Blair their own. I slide on my white flats, which were stained with unwashed mud. My OCD would usually cause me to freak out over it but right now, a little mud on my shoes was the least of my worries. Blair, looking fabulous in her simple clothing, came over to me and Terra. We were all packed and ready.

"Where do we go in the mall? It's bound to be busy." Terra says.

"No, it's under construction and it's a Sunday. No one's there." Blair says.

"Then it's decided. This scavenger hunt was designed to do nothing but put us through hell. Fun, right?" I sigh.

**XXX**

**ANNA**

Blair was right, the mall had been deserted. It would have been an exhausting walk, but thank the gods that Zeus was my father and I could fly. I'd also been able to carry them with separate currents, each. I was getting stronger and we all knew it. We were thankful for it, honestly. We'd need to be as strong as we could for this quest alone, not to mention this whole life. Now, we stand in front of the mall.

"We all go in together this time." Terra says, determined.

"Yeah, she almost had a heart attack yesterday." Blair says, shaking her head. I know she wanted to laugh. Terra shot her a look but smiled anyway.

We walked to the double doors and pushed through, entering. We were all in and as soon as I'd stepped in, the door behind us locked. Thank the gods we'd decided to walk in together. It was pitch black in the mall for some reason. I felt both girls reach for my hands. We laced our fingers together and I gave them reassuring squeezes which they'd given me back. I felt a small wash of panic peer over me and I shook my head, squeezing their hands tightly absently.

"You O.K?" Blair asks, quietly, and shakily. We're all scared.

"Yeah, let's just talk, talk about anything. Your parents, your home, hobbies, pets, anything. We need to keep our minds off of our fear." I say.

"Then I don't suppose talking about my parents would be a good idea." I hear Terra say, quietly.

"You can tell us. We're here for you." Blair says. I feel Terra squeeze my hand and I squeeze Blair's, letting her know that she was ready to start moving.

We hadn't moved yet, but as soon as the words began to leave Terra's mouth, our feet began to work.

"My dad is fading, and they don't even have a cabin for him. I know I want to save him and as soon as I'm done with this quest, during the school terms, I'll be focused on saving him. It's all I want to do. My brother is my hero. He's always there for me, even when I didn't want him to be. He's the reason I came to the camp. That night, my mom, she'd abused me again. She's always been rude to me with words but up until last year, she'd never hit me. As soon as she had, it was like she loved it more than she loved me in general. She'd beat me up every chance she got. She didn't care, as long as no one saw it. She'd loved my brother, and she never wanted to lose his love. She would die without it.

But the other night, he'd caught her slamming me against the wall. I'm allergic to cinnamon, and she claims she didn't know. She probably didn't, since she never cared to learn anything about my life- not even my birthday, but she was making hamburgers that night. It's my favorite food so I thought everything would be fine, until she out cinnamon on it. I told her I was allergic, and she threw down the pan. Johnathon had been outside that night, watching everything..." Through the whole story, Terra and I'd been squeezing each other's hand. Blair made a whimpering sound, she was crying. I squeezed her hand as well and as we walked, she leaned her head against mine. "Then, my brother came in as she had me slammed against the wall, slamming me against it more and more, over and over.

He scream at her. She talked as sweetly as she could to him, then he took up for me more. She'd gotten pissed and he screamed at her more. She left, like he wanted. Then Johnathan came in and my brother, Kevin, went to my room and packed my stuff for me then told Johnathan to take me away from the house and somewhere safe. And he did... and..." She started choking on her sobs. "And I met you guys, some of the most amazing and nicest people ever and I thought no one would like me because no one ever has except Johnathan and my brother, and I'm just... I'm so glad I have you both. I finally have more than one friend and I don't ever want to lose you two."

I squeezed their hands again and Blair started speaking through her tears, her head still leaned on mine.

"My parents are never around, sometimes I think I'm just a burden to them. They buy all of my pageant stuff, then leave on the days of the pageants. They've never been to one pageant. I hate saying this Terra, and I know it's not cool, but at least your mom is around. You know she wouldn't let any one else hurt you. She knows what's going on with you. My parents don't even know what grade I'm in. They missed my birthday. They flew out to Cali two days before Christmas and left me alone. I was so hurt.

They tell me to leave them alone anytime I show them something I'd won from the pageant. I would have quit pageants by now if I hadn't loved doing them so much. But the more they push me away, the better I try to be at my pageants. I try to be prettier than the last time, more likable. More... charming. I usually don't try and I guess it's because of Aphrodite's blood in me than I always get by but lately I feel that I'm pushing myself even more. Being Jr. Miss New York was the best goal I'd ever achieved and it wasn't even worth it to be known like that by everyone, to be famous for it, because my mother and father merely said 'Oh, that's nice, dear.' then left. They don't care. No one does."

I squeezed her hand.

"I care. We care. Someone will always care, Blair." I say. She squeezes my hand.

"Anna's right. We love you, Blair." Terra says. Blair sniffles.

"I envy you, Blair. You say your parents don't care, but that's not true. They do, they just don't care about your fame. That's all my parents seem to care about. They don't speak to me unless it's about my dancing. The only time they spend time with me is at practice, competitions, or meetings. They never even come home anymore, most nights they're at the hotel. My mom is pregnant, eight months. It's a boy. He isn't even born yet and she seems to love him more than me, already," I'd been squeezing their hands tightly in fury. So tight, they couldn't even squeeze back. "They don't even tell me that they love me anymore.

I told them I loved them and they said 'Anna, how was practice? You looked a little sloppy in the competition. Good thing that everyone else was sloppier than you and that you won.' What parent does that? I'm so envious of that stupid unborn kid, that I hate him! I hate him so much. He's normal, which makes them love him even more. Maybe that's why they don't love me. Of course my 'dad' doesn't, he isn't even my dad. My mom must hate me because I made my real dad leave. Maybe me being gone is best for them. They probably don't even care. Wait, yes they do. I'm not bringing them money anymore. Of course they care." I sounded so bitter that you couldn't hear the tears in my voice. "I hate them. They can all burn in Hades."

"Anna, I'm so-"

Blair was stopped when the lights came on. We released hands. Painted on the wall in red spray paint was our next clue.

'Go to the Gift Shop on 8th street. Be prepared for the battle of your life.'

We exchanged looks and we left the mall.


	17. Subway

**Subway**

* * *

**NICO **

We had walked to the subway station on 5th street, passing a guy on the street. He had spiky black hair and was tall and slim. He was wearing eyeliner and a hot pink shirt with a black leather jacket and black skinny jeans with hot pink vans. He winked at me and I felt heat rising to my cheeks. I'd been getting feelings about guys, feelings I didn't understand. I always blushed around them, like a girl. Noah looks back at the guy then me.

"Hey, he was checking you out." He says.

"Yeah, so?" I ask.

"So.. I mean, I figured... never mind." He says.

"I'm not gay, Noah." I say. Or am I? Could that be these feelings?

"We wouldn't judge you if you were, I'm not trying to.. I just saw that you blushed is all." He says. I nod and there's no more conversation until we reach the stairs that go underground. We walk down them and it's completely busy.

"He wouldn't send us somewhere where he couldn't attack us." Mike says.

"I told you it was the damn restaurant." Noah says.

We glare at him but he looks proud. I think he enjoys getting under our skin. He looks down and lifts his foot up. He reads the paper under his shoe.

"Wow. Noah, she is stupid. She and her friends are playing into my trap. Sure, they think they're going to get another clue, but really, the only clue will be through their hearts. Ha-ha. You want to come save her, don't you, Noah? You don't want her to die, do you? You better hurry." Noah reads. His eyes went glossy. "Anna-"

He'd whispered it and fell to his knees, shaking violently. Mike and I dropped down and caught him before he fell over completely.

"Noah! Noah!" We were shouting in his ear, but if he could hear us he didn't show it. We shook him and he started going limp, as though the shock was shutting down his body. He kept mumbling over and over, "Anna, Anna, I have to save her."

I took the paper from his hands and saw the arrow, indicating to look on the back. Anger rose in my throat.

"Mike, Anna isn't the only one in a sticky situation. Kaden is walking into a different trap as well, but it'll take at least two of you to save each girl but they're going to be in different spots at the same time. You and Noah have to choose, as for Nico, you might want to come and find me. I have Percy Jackson, Jason Grace and Reed Stanton. They're with the weapons, and if you go to the subway restaurant you'll find the next clue." I read from the note. He was attempting to split us up. I could understand why he wanted Percy and Jason but why Reed? Reed never did anything to anyone, why would he take him?

He must be scared. He's never been away from the camp before. He told me that. He told me everything- maybe that's why he took Reed, because Reed and I were friends. I shook with anger like both of my friends.

"I have to save Anna and you have to Kaden and Nico has to save Jason, Percy, Reed and the items. God, I'll kill this guy." Noah growls. I rest a hand on his shoulder. I read the bottom of the paper. "Anna's going to the gift shop on 8th street and Kaden is going to the abandoned Library on 2nd."

We all stand up, Noah looking more serious than I've ever seen him.

"Noah-" Mike begins.

"No. We can talk when I see you all at camp, when I bring her and the other girls back safely. I can't talk now. I can't think of anything else." He says.

We all nod, and I swallow in nervousness.

"Be safe, guys." I say.

"You too, Nico." Mike says.

Noah was already gone. Mike pats my shoulder and leaves. I'm alone but that's good. I make my way to the subway restaurant.

**XXX**

**NICO**

I make it to the subway station within minutes, I'd been running. Out of breath, I open the door. I walk in and the door shuts behind me. Suddenly, there's a glitter in the air and I recognize the powder, power from Melanie's grounds. I hold my breath and hear the growling of hell hounds. I bring out my sword as one of them jumps at me, I gasp and accidentally breathe in the hallucination powder. I see my fears, while I attempt to focus on the hell hounds. I can't. I see Reed in my hallucination.

He's laughing, smiling. I don't understand why I fear this. In the hallucination, he moves to me and puckers his lips, he disappears just before his lips meet mine. Another hallucination, of Reed, and it's him, on the floor, bleeding badly. He's dying. I know it's a hallucination, but I crawl to him, trying to touch him, to help him, but his image shatters under my touch. A hell hound jumps on to me and I roll over on to my back and throw the big dog off me. It jumps back but I'd had my sword out. The dog bursts into gold dust.

The second and third attempt to jump on me but the adrenaline coursing through my veins prevents me from waiting. I attack them, both of them going down in dust. I stare at the last two and I throw my sword at one, it disintegrates as well. The last one only stares at me before running off. I grab my sword and the note on the counter.

'I knew this would be cruel, but you should know I don't care. Your next clue is at the gay bar down the street. It'll be there around midnight. Have fun, kid.'

I growl so loudly and viciously that I think the hell hound had come back and done it. I crumple up the paper in my hand and kick the door open, leaving.


	18. Central ParkLibrary

**Central Park/Library**

* * *

**AUTHOR**

Central Park had been quiet, they had gotten there and gotten their clue which had told them to go to the abandoned Library on 2nd street and be prepared. They had daggers and Leslie had her bow, which the arrows had been switched with camp ones, so they were as prepared as they'd ever be at this moment. They had walked all the way to the abandoned Library, which was two streets over. During their walk, they made small conversations.

"So, When's your birthday, Kaden?" Leslie asked.

"June 26." She answers, "What about the two of you?"

"November 17." Leslie said, at the same time Cameron replied, "August 6th"

Kaden nodded.

"How are you two feeling? Are you both still perfectly fine?"She asked, out of concern. Yesterday was so hectic, She hadn't even asked how their exhaustion levels were. She probably wouldn't have cared had she not seen the bags under Cameron's eyes.

"We're fine." Leslie says, perfectly fine.

"Cameron, are you tired?" Kaden asked, believing Leslie had been speaking for herself only.

"Only a little. I was up all night studying the books about the monsters, but I'm fine." She said. She didn't sound fine, but Kaden didn't press into her anymore.

"What school do you want to go to next year?" She asks, changing the subject.

"Well, I'm a well known archer. There's a school that could further my talent and still teach me regular courses. It's Elliot's School." Leslie says.

"For those kids who are gifted with weapons? Like archery, guns, swords-"

"Yes, that's the one." She smiled, interrupting Cameron. "What about you two?"

"I have one in mind but I don't think I'm smart enough." Cameron says.

"What is it?" Kaden had asked.

"New York's School for the Wise." She says.

"Isn't it there a better school than that? In Cali?" Leslie asks.

"Albert's School for the Gifted, but I'd never be able to get in. I'm not that smart." Cameron says. Kaden shook her head, her chocolate brown curls bouncing lightly.

"You should still apply." She says, gazing at her friend.

"But it's all the way in California. What if something-"

"You'll think of something, Nerd." Leslie winked.

For the first time, in what had seemed like forever, Leslie knew that 'nerd' was a compliment instead of an insult. She felt her eyes watering but nodded.

"Yeah, I will. I will apply. But what about you, Kaden?" She asks.

"I want to go to the school that prepares you for the stuff like the Olympics, Dr. Sommer's Institute."

"Sounds like a prison." Leslie shuttered.

"Nah, it has way better food." Kaden winked, causing all three girls to giggle.

**XXX**

**AUTHOR**

The three girls had made it to their destination, the Library on 2nd street, and now they waited to enter. Kaden put her hands on the door, which had a sign indicating to push, and took a deep breath. She was ready, now. She pushed open, just in time to hear a familiar scream.

"Kaden, no!" She looked to find Mike, racing to her. No? What?

The door flung open, sucking her in, leaving out her friends. The door slammed behind her. She was greeted by darkness, and she felt a firmness under her, indicating that she was on her back, on the ground. There was something piercing in her back, though. Her knife, she'd realized. She could hear her friends pounding on the door, trying to bust it down, to get to her. She heard Mike screaming her name, frustration laced his voice.

"I'm fine, don't worry." She wanted to yell back, but no words came. She choked back a sob. "I love you guys." Again, no words came out.

She rolled over to her stomach, wanting to get to the door, to open in for them, to let them in. As soon as she'd gotten so close, so close to touching it, a force that felt like strong wind threw her into a bookshelf, knocking it over with a loud thud.

"Help me." She tried yelling, this time her voice came out- only as a pained mumble. She tried again, this time it sounded normal. She'd screamed, now. "I'M SCARED!"

She pushed herself to her hands and knees. How was she going to save herself from this? How could she fight something she could see, let alone touch. She was flung into a wall, but hearing her friends trying harder to get in made her forget some of her pain. She fell to her knees.

_'So, this is how I'll die. Like this.'_ She thought, coughing. She coughed even though she had no reason to. The only thing she'd seemed to be doing was making her throat dry and sore. She rolled on to her back, looking into the darkness above. _'This is how I'll die, father.'_

**XXX**

**AUTHOR **

Mike hadn't heard Kaden in three minutes. Three minutes and 27 seconds, to be exact. 28 seconds. He took a deep breath. 31 seconds. He held his breath now. Nothing, nothing at all. 45 seconds. A sharp scream breaks through the silence and he knows the scream too well.

"Kaden!" Adrenaline pulsed through him and, without thinking, he punched the glass door and it shattered.

He held his bleeding hand and kicked the rest of the glass out- why didn't he do that in the first place? He was rash, he knew that. The girls had been protecting their eyes, but he was done kicking the glass, now. He put his leg through, his foot reaching the other side, and he ducked in. Just as he was about to walk off, he saw Leslie trying to get in. He turned back and pushed her out, through her head. She would have fallen back if Cameron hadn't caught her. Though she was very skinny, Cameron was strong enough to keep up her friend, who wasn't big but not as skinny as her.

He shot them a warning look, telling them with his eyes to stay.

"What?" Leslie asked, slightly outraged.

"Stay. You two can't get hurt and I can't watch out for both of you _and_ save Kaden at the same time. Just stay put." Mike had told them.

Leslie nodded.

"Fine, we'll stay right here." She said, but he heard something in her voice- the same thing he saw in her eyes, defiance. He smirked, at least she was determined.

"Swear it on the River Styx, Leslie, that you will not come in here and try to help me or Kaden- in fact, that you won't come in here at all for at least a week." He said.

"A week? Really?" She asked, her arms crossed.

"Really. Just to be safe. Now, swear it." Mike said, his look hardening on her.

"Fine, fine. I, Leslie Katelynn Grand, swear on the River Styx that I will not come into the Library on 2nd street for a week- at least." She said.

Satisfied, Mike left to find his best friend.

**XXX**

**AUTHOR**

"I'm not just gonna sit around and let him get himself _and_ Kaden killed, dammit." Leslie growled out in frustration. She was sweating in the humidity filled heat, her dirty blonde hair clinging to her shirt. Her, as of recently, silver eyes- which always seemed to glow, were trained on her bright blue converse.

"We can't do anything about it, Les." Cameron said, leaning her back against the pole. She'd been sweating, too. She'd even pulled up her grey smiley face shirt to her stomach, which glistened with sweat. Her already natural curly hair was even more so due to the humidity.

"I know, because _I_ freak'n swore on the damned river- which I've never even heard about, mind you- and for what? I can't go anywhere, and-" She paused her rant for a moment, looking at Cameron with a devilish smile. Cameron met her look with a nervous one. "And I can't go inside."

"So why are you so happy?" She asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Because _you_ can."

Leslie shook her head.

"No way! I'll only get in the way, and-"

"Cam! No, you won't. You're smart. You can save both of them! Just please. Please do this for Kaden. She needs us, and I'm stuck here. You can do something, Cam. Don't just sit there- don't be the reason she dies." Leslie pleads.

"Why does it sound like your trying to guilt trip me?" Leslie asked, standing to stretch her legs.

"Because I am."

"Well, congratulations. It worked."

With a sigh, Cameron slipped through the jagged hole in the glass.


	19. The Gift Shop

**The Gift Shop **

* * *

**AUTHOR **

Anna, Terra, and Blair had made it to the gift shop in a few minutes. They hadn't talked at all on the way there, but they didn't need to. They'd already known their plan, which was simple. Be ready for anything. Expect everything. Look out for everyone. Forget about no one. They stood there, now, looking up at the huge gift shop- maybe it had been beautiful once, thought Blair. It had been, long before now. The white columns outside were caked with dirt and damaged with holes and scratches. The brick building, connected to the columns by the caving eggshell colored roof, had moss and vines growing everywhere on it- even the door.

'_How are we suppose to get in, now?'_ Blair groaned, mentally. As if reading her mind, Terra stepped forward and held out her hand.

"I've never done this before," Terra says, softly, "But I can try."

She turns wrist clockwise and slowly the vine on the right side begins to peel away. She flicks her wrist to the right and the vines are cleared. She mimics her movement to the left, met with the same results. They walk up the steps, which though were concrete, weren't sturdy. They seemed to be crumbling in some places. Anna touched the metal handle of the door and a cold shiver ran through her whole body.

_'This doesn't feel right.'_ She thought, quietly. She could feel her friend's eyes on her, she shouldn't worry in front of them. "Stay back. I'm going in first- understand? Don't come in unless I say it's safe."

"O.K." Blair and Terra chime, stepping away.

Anna opens the door, met by a cold blast of wind that makes her cringe. She ignores the coolness and steps inside, carefully- slowly. She'd never been known to be careful with all the broken ankles, wrists, arms and concussions she had. But, there was a first time for everything. Walking around the dimly lit shop, Anna noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

"O.K," Anna called out, finally, "It's safe. Come in!"

She heard footsteps as her friends walked in. She started walking, not looking to see where she was going, and bumped into someone. She'd never screamed so loudly before. Noah's arms found her shoulders, his face frantic. He pulled her into a hug- more like a death grip- and held her. Blair and Terra rushed over to find them. Relief warmed the room, only for a moment.

Then a loud sound shocked Anna and Noah apart. They looked to where they'd entered. The door was slammed shut and the handle broken off- both of them.

**XXX**

**AUTHOR**

Anna hated snakes, she hated them more than anything. When she'd first seen the small grass snake crawling around the floor after the door closed, she wanted to scream. One snake was bad enough, but what lay in front of her now was a whole village. She'd lost all of her color, even her eyes were a paler shade of blue and her normally ash blonde was almost bleached. Noah, being on the Librarian desk like the other girls, was calling to her. She couldn't hear his words over the sound of the hissing coming from the snakes.

She was frozen in place by fear. She hated this feeling, the feeling you get when you're scared. The nausea in your stomach, the tightness in your chest, but worst of all: the sudden lack of air. It was as if her lungs had frozen with the rest of her body. She could only hear the hissing from below and the rushing of her own blood in her ears. Her heart was beating incredibly fast. She felt hands on her shoulder, trying to pull her up, but she wouldn't budge. She heard one name, though._ Medusa_. The name filled her mind with rage. She was the reason Anna was afraid of snakes. Her mother use to tell her 'Bed Time Stories' about her.

_'Bed Time Stories aren't suppose to make a five year old wet herself around midnight because of a stupid nightmare of a stupid woman with stupid snakes for hair, mother.'_ Anna thought, bitterly, as a snake crawled over her shoe.

This had triggered the first sound Anna had made since she saw the snake, and it wasn't an attractive one. It was somewhere between a shriek, croak and a puff of air. Telling herself she'd burn her shoes later, she was finally hulled up by Noah on to the desk.

"Medusa will be around here any second. Don't look her directly in the eyes." Noah said, his hands still resting on Anna's shoulder and arm. She shivered slightly from his touch, he thought she was cold. He pulled out a jacket from his backpack and handed it to her.

She took it and wrapped it around herself. Only a centimeter or two showed of her yoga shorts. She could hear more hissing- the sound was like air coming from a tire. She needed air, she needed it badly. This hissing sounded horrible, though. Noah stood in front of Blair and Terra, his back to the snakes and the other hissing, and pulled Anna in front of him.

"Your eyes." He said, warning them.

They all closed their eyes, he yanked Anna into his arms, pulling him hard against his chest. He knew she was here and he knew he'd be the easiest target at the moment.

"Promise me you'll get back to camp alive." He whispered to her.

"What-" She looked up, opening her eyes.

She only saw a tail snatch him away from her. She tumbled and fell onto the floor, onto snakes. She didn't even care right now. Of course she was panicked, but that didn't matter. Noah was gone and it felt like part of her soul went with him.


	20. Despair

So, from now on I think I'm joining all of the quests- for the most part, that is. :D

**Despair**

* * *

**NICO**

For the rest of the day, I'd just aimlessly wandered around, looking for something- anything to do. I didn't really want to focus on my feelings. I was usually so good at avoiding them, but I guess everything _was_ changing. I certainly was. I figured my sexual orientation was the reason for this. I'd always believed I was straight- I've always loved girls. Then, I met Reed. The idiot who was only fourteen at the time while I was fifteen. Now, here we are. He's sixteen and I'm seventeen- best friends, unlikely might I add, for two whole years.

Everyone knew that he wasn't straight, thought he didn't push it- if you hadn't _really_ known him, you might believe he was straight. Tons of girls still fell in love with him, all the time. I'll admit, it did make me jealous. I never thought it was because I liked him, though. I always thought it was because I felt like people were trying to take away my best friend. But I did like him- wait, I _do_ like him. Melanie's hallucination had proven it to me. I was scared of my feelings for him, and scared of his death. That's why I had to save him. I can't just leave him alone, not in a world he's never known.

With a quick turn on my heels, I ran down to a cafe to get something to eat and drink. Let the gods forbid I ever let some random guy buy me a drink at a bar.

**KADEN**

Mike had come to my rescue, using his body wait to push down on me, keeping me from being thrown into a wall again. I loved knowing I'd never have to be scared for too long, not with Mike. He was always there, always knowing what to do and when and why. I'd wrapped my arms around his neck, scared. The winds were picking up but we weren't moving.

"Kaden? Mike?" I hear a small voice. The winds die down and I recognize Cameron. She runs to us.

"I thought I told you to stay put!" Mike hissed, usually Cameron would flinch, but she set a hard stare at him and gave a deep sigh.

"Shut the heck up! I'm not a freak'n five year old, I can take care of my self, gosh darn't, and so the gods help me that if you ever try to make me stay away from a fight again, I'll-" She seemed to be having trouble thinking of a good threat, "I'll- I'll put itching powder in you boxers."

I fought my urge to giggle. We were the same age, though I'd be fourteen before her, but I still thought she'd be a little more mature than me.

"But how did you-" He began; she cut him off.

"You made Leslie swear on the River Styx. Not me." She smirked, I saw it even in the crappy lighting.

"Clever little-"

"Hey, shut up. I'm a Christian, I don't condone that type of language." She says.

"Obviously, I mean I figured that from some who says 'gosh darn't'." He chuckled.

She glared but helped us up and they led me to the door. We hurried and sneaked through, running away as fast as we could.

**ANNA**

Lightning had long since scorched and killed all of the snakes. I'd summoned it without even thinking. Blair, Terra and I walk through the shop, looking for Noah. I heard banging against the metal door to my right. I hesitated before opening it, the cold door knob breaking through the heat of my skin. I open the door and Noah fell out. He hugged me and looked down. I could hear her.

"You killed my children!" Medusa screamed.

"And you've killed tons of my brothers and sisters, I'm doing this for my dad. Consider yourself even with him, wench." I said, not looking directly at her but through the metal door. I nodded Tanner whose whip had already been out, like my sword. Blair would be charge of making her turn to her. Blair saw the movement and threw the glass kitty we'd found at Medusa, she turned away just as Medusa turned to face her.

"You little bi-"

The '_crack_' of Tanner's whip interrupted her just as it slammed on her back. I took this distraction as my chance and brought my sword down on her. Her head fell off.

"And that, wench, is for me."


	21. Asher Ambrose

**WARNING::::::::: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL CONTENT AND WHAT NOT! You've been warned, so read on. **

**Asher Ambrose**

* * *

**AUTHOR **

It was five minutes to midnight, and Nico Di Angelo stood in line. He finally made it to the bouncer, showing him a fake I.D. He's always had a fake I.D, he's even used it on several occasions, but never once had he imagined he'd use it to get into Club Crave, the most popular gay bar in Manhattan. The bouncer looked at Nico's I.D and nodded, waving him inside the club. When he got inside, it was dimly lit- the only light coming from black lights, and the music was loud. He saw nothing but guys, well what else was to be expected? He walked through, pushing guys aside. He went to the bar. He had two minutes before his clue would be here, then he'd have to look all around for it.

He ordered a drink, a coke, not wanting any alcohol. He turned away to survey the crowd, see if he recognized anyone, and his eyes fell on a boy. A young boy, he must have been Nico's age, if not younger. The boy was staring at Nico, intently. His hair, sandy blonde, cascaded down, almost covering his blue eyes. Nico was seeing Reed. The boy walked closer to Nico, and realized he was wrong. This boy looked like Reed, but he didn't have the same charm Reed did. No one had the same charm Reed had. The boy stops in front of Nico and he realizes the boy may be his age, seventeen.

"Hey, I'm Asher. Asher Ambrose Cunningham. Of course, Ambrose is my original last name. I have no real middle name." The boy says, too formally, too elegantly.

"Why don't you have a middle name?" Nico asks, confused.

"Because, demigod, I was born in the early fifteen-hundreds." Asher replied, with a wink.

**XXX**

**AUTHOR**

Asher had led the shocked Nico to an abandoned supply room. The inside was small, cluttered with brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies. Asher shut the door behind them, and Nico tripped over what he guessed was a wet floor sign in the dark. He struggled to not fall, and to regain his composure. After a moment, he stood straight, tensed.

"How did you know?" Nico asked, not bothering to hide the distrust in his voice.

It was dark, but he could tell that Asher had shrugged.

"I've been alive since the fifteen hundreds, I'm wise." Asher had replied, in a matter-of-fact way.

Nico wanted to punch him.

"How? You're only seventeen."

"Yes and no. I stopped my aging process at seventeen. Wait. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's sit." They both sat down, Nico across form him, "It started out in the year 1524, I was born. My father was a mortal, one who loved to party. My older siblings, Sara and William- much like my younger ones, Lily and Johnathan, were all completely normal, as well. Well, not completely- but that's late in the story. Well, I was nowhere near normal. I could never be normal. When I was around eight, and William was twelve, Sara nine, Johnathan six and Lily three, I began seeing monsters everywhere. I was deeply troubled by it and everyone thought I was crazy, everyone except for Lily. Lily said she'd seen them, too. I never believed her. I thought she was either trying to make me feel better, or she didn't know what I was talking about.

When I was ten, William fourteen, Sara eleven, Johnathan eight and Lily five, I found out that I could do these amazing things, like a witch could. In America, they didn't believe in witches until the 1600's. In my location in Europe, it'd began a few years before I was ever born. They were still killing witches at the time, so I had to keep quiet. I kept practicing, getting better. Then, when I was twelve, William sixteen, Sara thirteen, Johnathan ten and Lily seven, my brother, William had found out of my magic. He wanted me to teach him and I tried, but he couldn't do it. He'd said I was selfish, that I hadn't wanted to teach him. That's when he told me he was going to tell our father, and tell him to have me reported. Father would have, he'd never liked me. But I had leverage on that bastard of a brother of mine.

Around that time, days before this happened, I'd found out of his and Sara's sickening, incestuous 'love' affair. She was, how do I put this- pleasuring my brother every night after we'd all gone to sleep. Turns out, she'd been doing this for a year, oral sex for him. Until the night I'd found out, they'd never done anything else. Our father had gone away, he was to speak to the king. Johnathan and Lily had gone to our aunts, I had went, too, but I wanted to go back home. I came home that night, late, and heard noises in William's room, it was Sara screaming in pain and Johnathan grunting. I was a young boy, I'd never known what sex was, so I figured they were in trouble. I ran to Williams room, and just before I opened it, everything calmed down, I listened a little more. Sara wasn't screaming out of pain any more, she was moaning, quietly. I'd listened to them speak.

'William, I thought were doing more than this tonight." I heard Sara breathe, heavily, moaning. My brother spoke. 'We are, sister, but I must do this first.' then silence. Then more moaning from Sara. Suddenly she screamed again, but I was frozen in place. They were screams of pain that quickly turned into screams of pleasure. I then knew what I was hearing. The night my brother threatened me, I threatened him. He hadn't told anything, and neither had I. For a whole year, we acted as though nothing happened. Then, when I was thirteen and William was seventeen, Lily fourteen- and pregnant, by the way, Johnathan eleven and Lily eight, a woman showed up at our house.

She'd told me my mother, and everyone was excited. They believed she was theirs, too. But she wasn't- only mine. And Lily's. The woman, with dark colored hair and light colored eyes had reminded me of Lily. Of course I'd had light eyes, like both of them, but I was the only fair haired child. William, the father of Sara's child, had said we need time with our mother. He took Sara and Johnathan outside and into the fields. My mother told me who she was, she was the goddess Hecate, and she explained that Lily and I were demigods, magical ones. She explained that Lily wasn't my sister, at all, though. She said she had her blood, but not a lot. She could still see through the mist and the monsters could see her, but she had no powers.

She wasn't even the daughter of my father, but I still had to get her away, according to Hecate. I told her I would, that night. I then heard screaming. We ran outside to find William dead, standing over Sara and Johnathan, protecting them from the king's knight. Johnathan had told our father about my powers, right after he'd told him he impregnated Sara. Now, I had to worry about my older sister and younger brother, as well as Lily. The knight had come for me, but my mother killed him and told us to pack our clothing and run away, now. We had. We traveled, night and day, me leading them into the forest. After months of being alone, living on the animals we'd killed and the fruit we'd picked, Sara had given birth to a girl.

We all got to decide on the name, deciding on Ellie. Ellie was dark haired, like both Sara and William had been, with light colored eyes. After two years, I was finally fifteen. Sara was sixteen, Johnathan was thirteen, Lily was ten, Ellie was two and William was still dead. We'd needed more berries so Sara and I went to find some. In the woods, away from our siblings and her daughter, she pushed me against a tree and kissed me. She was my sister, I told myself. Why was I kissing her back? I was confused. She'd touched me and brought me to life. I couldn't stop myself, I wanted her because she'd made me want her. She'd seduced me, and I wanted her.

She'd given me oral, but I didn't have sex with her. I couldn't. I felt dirty enough. It wasn't even that she was my sister- back then, family was just a word- but it was the fact that William loved her, William died for her. She had given birth to William's daughter. I left her alone in the woods. I hadn't meant to, I thought she was following me. She died that night. She hadn't come back to the abandoned house we'd been living in, and it was a cold night. We found her, frozen to death. We buried the body by the house, like we had with William. I'd asked mother to bring his body long before that night, which is why he was there. Anyways, it was only Johnathan, Lily, Ellie and me.

The next year, when I was seventeen, Johnathan was fourteen, Lily was was eleven and Ellie was three. Johnathan had run away that year. That was also when I stopped my aging process- to be young forever. I'd also made myself immortal on accident. Years passed and Johnathan had never come back. I believe he was dead. Lily was now sixteen, Ellie was was eight. Lily had begged me to make her ageless and immortal, and I did. It worked perfectly. Year passed and then Ellie was sixteen, wanting to be ageless and immortal as well. I couldn't bare to lose her, too, so I obliged. Lily and Ellie was young girls, they'd never knew what love was like. They'd never even had first kisses.

One night, after coming home for gathering berries, I found them in my room, naked. They were touching each other. Their tongues on each others private places- everywhere. I'd gasped in amazement and horror. I hadn't even noticed that seeing them had aroused me. Lily had come over to me. She kissed my neck, and put her hands to my place. She'd begin stroking me. It was amazing. Ellie had come to me as well. Lily moved out of the way for a moment and Ellie kissed me, her hands rubbing at my bare chest. I'd picked her up, and Lily undressed my lower half, giving me oral as I kissed Ellie. I pulled away from Ellie and and Lily, then went to the bed and lay Ellie down.

I let Lily lay beside her. I moved to Lily and began having sex with her, while I kept Ellie busy with my fingers. Then when They'd both- um reached satisfaction points, I switched. They'd pleasured me every night after that, but neither ever got pregnant, to this day, they still pleasure-"

"I don't want to hear about your sex life." Nico interrupted, irritably.

"Yeah, well this is the only way you get your clue. I'm almost done, now shut up."

Nico shut up.

"Thank you." Asher said, "Now, as I was saying. We moved to America, we live in the woods and they have your clue. But you can only get it by going to the house in the woods, instructions on this map, here you go," He handed Nico a piece of paper that he couldn't see in the dark, "And they will both have a favor for you. Then you get the location of your friends and weapons- but you will have to battle the thieves."

"Thieves? As in two?" Nico asked, shocked.

"As in three. I am not one, but one is my brother. You can wait until you have all of your friends with you. You have two weeks before they die. Be safe, kid."

And Nico was alone in the storage room, gripping the piece of paper.


End file.
